1. NORWEGIAN GENEALOGY: NAMES

2. EARLY NAMING
Vikings believed a child would achieve qualities and protection from what they were named after, e.g. animals or weapons.
After Christianity took hold, saints and biblical names were used.
Patronymics became the rule in several areas of the world, including Scandinavia.

3. NAMING TRADITIONS
Norwegian tradition for naming children in the past followed strict practices:
The oldest son (daughter) was named after the paternal grandfather (grandmother)
The second oldest son (daughter) was named after the maternal grandfather (grandmother).
Next children were named
after the great grandparents.

4. NAMING EXCEPTIONS
If the widow/widower remarried, they named their child after a deceased spouse.
If the parent died before the child was baptized, the child was named for that parent.
If the child died, the next child would get that child’s name.
Other rules exist for unique settings.

5. PATRONYMICS
Educated, upper class Norwegians (like clergy, military, and high ranking civil servants) and city dwellers used hereditary surnames (same last name passed down from generation to generation).
Until around 1900, rural Norwegians did not have surnames, but instead use the naming convention of patronymics.

6. PATRONYMICS PATRONYM is Latin for ‘father + name’
Rural Norwegians had a first name, sometimes a middle name, and a patronym.
Because there could be several persons in an area with this same name, (e.g. there may be more than one Anders Anderson), farm names were added.

7. PATRONYMICS
The patronym and farm name were not used as surnames, but as identifiers and addresses, and were not hereditary names.
Example:
Daniel Rasmus Jonson Føllesdal
-Daniel (first name)
-Rasmus (middle name) he was the son of Jon
-he lives on the Føllesdal farm

8. PATRONYMICS
Schematic of an example of patronymic naming convention

9. PATRONYMICS
The farm name was added for the farm where they currently resided. It could change if the residence changes!
A male child was born on the Hanebrekke farm, and was known as:
Daniel Rasmus Jonson Hanebrekke
After moving to another farm, Espeland, in adulthood, he was known as:
Daniel Rasmus Jonson Espeland

10. PATRONYMICS
Example of a family and their patronymic naming convention:
-Anders Olafsen and his wife Mette Svensdatter have two children:
Jon Andersen and Mari Andersdatter
- They live on a farm named Skansen

11. PATRONYMICS Father is Anders Olafsen he is Anders, son of Olaf
His son is Jon Andersen
He is Jon, son of Anders
His daughter is Mari Andersdatter
She is Mari, daughter of Anders
His wife is Mette Svensdatter
She is daughter of Sven
Notice she does not take her husband’s name Olafsen

12. PATRONYMICS Remember! If there are several Jon Andersens in
the village, the son may also take
on the farm name:
e.g. Jon Andersen Skansen

13. PATRONYMICS Note the endings added to their names:
Here is a little history of how these endings have changed, depending on the ruling country!
COUNTRY SON DAUGHTER
DENMARK………………………………… SEN DATTER
SWEDEN………………………………… SON DOTTER
NORWAY (before 1814: Danish rule)…… SEN DATTER
NORWAY ( : Swedish rule)…… SON DOTTER
NORWAY (after 1905: Independence)…… SØN DOTTER

14. PATRONYMICS Sometimes you will see double ‘s’ in the last name:
Larsson (son of Lars)
Nilsson (son of Nils)
This double ‘s’ is often dropped
-Larson or Nilson
Be aware that both spellings may be seen
in genealogy records for the same person!

15. MATRONYMS
Matronyms were used exceptionally if the child was born out of wedlock or if the mother was much more high-born or well known than the father.
Example:
Sweyn Estridsson
This is Sweyn, son of Estrid
( a woman!)

16. FIXED SURNAMES
Norway gradually adopted fixed surnames from the mid-1800’s until they were required by law in 1923, citing the rising population and the need to avoid the confusion of new last names in every generation.

17. FIXED SURNAMES Choosing a fixed name followed four different routes:
Patronymic name
Place name
Occupation name
Characteristic name

18. FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES PLACE NAMING:
We’ve already discussed Patronymic naming.
PLACE NAMING:
- Farms were often divided into sections and
given to sons at adulthood or inheritance.
- The divided farms may take on different
names.

19. FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES EXAMPLE:
The Skyrud farm was divided into divisions given unique names:
Skyrudsteppen (plains)
Skyrudsmoen (meadow)
Skyrudshaugen (hill)
Øver-skyrud (upper)
Nordre-skyrud (northern)

20. FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES So while the family may choose the
surname Skyrud, another member may
choose Haugen or Moen, or even the
village name.

21. FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES -This is Lars, son of Hans.
OCCUPATION NAMING:
This was less common for use as fixed family names.
e.g. Lars Hansen Snekkeren
-This is Lars, son of Hans.
-He is a carpenter (snekkeren).
Other occupations became family names:
Smed (blacksmith)
Møller (miller)

22. FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES -Svarte (black) CHARACTERISTIC NAMING:
This was the least common naming convention.
This was often common among royalty,
those with titles and military victories, or for
persons who were foreign born.
EXAMPLES:
-Svarte (black)
-Rask (fast)
-Brun (brown)

23. SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES
1. Most immigrants were illiterate and may
not have known how to write or spell their
names. (Public education was established
in 1860 in Norway).
2. A name could be spelled several different
ways: Olafsen, Ulafsen, Olavsen, Olsen,
Olesen, Olasen are all derived from the
same name root.

24. SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES
3. A person may have several names
during their lifetime, having names for
each place they lived.
4. When emigrating, simplicity was the key in naming, so they could easily assimilate; names were simplified.

25. SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES
It is pretty common for the first American generation from Norwegian immigrants to select a permanent family name different from that chosen by their parents.
It’s a myth that Ellis Island or other immigration agents arbitrarily changed surnames.

26. SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES
Census takers wrote the names down as they heard them. Since they likely were not Scandinavian, they would spell the name on the census record as they thought it sounded.
e.g. Anders Olafsen became Andrew
Olson on the census form.
e.g. Mette Evensdatter became Martha
Evanston on the census form.

27. SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES
Some common examples of ‘Americanized’ Norwegian names:
Øystein became Austin
Mari became Marie
Kari became Carrie
Jens became James
Johannes became John

28. Norwegian Language & Alphabet
Norway has two written standards:
Bokmål -means ‘book language’ and is based on the Danish-influence on the language.
Nynorsk-means ‘new Norwegian’, but is based on old dialects.

29. Norwegian Language & Alphabet
Norwegian has three more letters than the English language:
æ / Æ , ø / Ø , and å / Å
These may appear in older documents as follows:
ä / Ä , ö / Ö , and aa /Aa
Do not substitute these letters in words, as they may change the meaning of the word!

30. NOTES: ICELAND
Patronymics and matronymics are still used as last names and is, in fact, compulsory by law (with a handful of exceptions)
-e.g. the father's name, plus the word son for sons or dóttir for daughters.
Example:
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is read in English as "Jóhanna, daughter of Sigurð[ur]".

31. NOTES: FINLAND - Only in the 19th century did the use of
The use of patronymics was a result of relatively recent Swedish influence and remained uncommon outside official documents.
- Only in the 19th century did the use of
patronymics gain any sort of popularity
among the Finnish-speaking lower
classes.
- Family surnames became obligatory in
Finland by law in 1920.

32. NOTES: SWEDEN -In 1982 the right to use patronyms (and
The practice of children keeping their father's and wives keeping their husband's patronymic as a surname occurred in the 1700s but was first prevalent in the late 1800s, still present yet uncommon in the 1900s and finally abolished in 1966.
-In 1982 the right to use patronyms (and
matronyms) was partially restored, and
from 1 July 2017 parents in Sweden are free
to give their children patronyms/matronyms
at birth instead of inherited family names.

33. NOTES: DENMARK
The government outlawed the practice in 1856 and eased the regulations in 1904 to deal with the limited number of patronymics.

34. Sons of Norway Website
For members, the Sons of Norway website has a cultural program for those interested in Norwegian genealogy.
You can earn pins for your genealogical accomplishments through this Cultural Skills program.
Go to

35. Sons of Norway Website

36. Sons of Norway Website

37. Sons of Norway Website

38. Sons of Norway Website

39. Sons of Norway Website

40. Sons of Norway Website Log in Click on Member Resources (upper right)
Scroll down and click on the Genealogy link
There is a downloadable file for the Cultural Skills program, which has many wonderful descriptions of the history of Norway, genealogic resources, and forms to use to apply for the pins after completion of the courses.
There are also other resource links in blue at the bottom of this page.

41. Norwegian Genealogy: links
The Norwegian National Archives
Sons of Norway

42. TRANSITION TO INDEPENDENCE