User:SvareJM/Sandbox/Nordic Given Names

Online Resources
Nordic Names A website studying given names in the Nordic countries.

History of Names in the Nordic Countries
The given names used in the Nordic Countries can be grouped into two types, those used before the adoption of Christianity and those used after that event. The Christianization of the Nordic countries began in the 700s with missionary efforts in Danish-controlled Schleswig. The first real success was in 826 when Harald Halfdansen (Harald Klak), accepted Emperor Louis I of Germany's offer to become Duke of Frisia in exchange for accepting Christianity. This occured at the same time as vikings were spreading their beliefs and practices through their settlements in Europe and giving Old Norse names to places they traveled to. By the 12th century virtually all of the Nordic countries had abandoned their pagan religions in favor of Christianity. It is at this time that names with Biblical associations begin to be more commonly used. These names include, Mary, Martha, and Sarah for girls, and Jacob, Aaron, Peter, and Paul for boys.

The adoption of Christianity demarcates a change in the names used by people in Nordic countries. Prior to this names have an Old Norse (e.g., Eric, Harald) origin or are loanwords, some of which have pagan (e.g, Odin, Thor) associations. Many names with pre-Christian origins remain popular given names and placenames with Old Norse and pre-Christian roots (e.g., Ullensvang, from Ullr) are still in use.

Name Interchangeability
Some caution must be exercised regarding the form of names found in the records. In many cases records were created by a person educated in another country or regions or taught to write by a person educated elsewhere. As in many cases we have no record of what a person called themselves, we are forced to rely on the records which tell us what the recorder considered was the correct form of a person’s name.

These name variants above are indicative of an important principle about names. In Sweden, it is not uncommon to call a person by an affectionate form of the given name. William, for example, in English-speaking countries is often know as Bill. This can be confusing in research, where for example someone may be called Kjerstin in the birth record, but later is called Stina in another record. Most names also have variant spellings. It really is not much of a problem, once you have learned to recognize these names. As people moved from one country to another the name which they are recorded by may change based on the recorder's perspective as to what the correct spelling was.

Some of the more common names and variants are listed below. These are not all-inclusive, nor exclusive lists. Some names may be found across cultures or regions. Regional variations are found in all countries.

Male Names
1Diminutive form of Johan 2Diminutive form of Nicholas

Common Names
The following names, listed by country and grouped alphabetically by gender, are commonly found in the records.

Female
• 6

Male
• 6

Female
• 6

Male
• 6

Female
• 6

Male
• 6

Female
• 6

Male
• 6

Female
• 6

Male
• 6

Abbreviations
Perhaps the most commonly encountered abbreviation is in names containing the root Christ-, where it is frequently written as Chr. or sometimes X, that being a modern siglum of the Greek Χρ, representing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of Christ.


 * Johannes can be abbreviated as Johs. The feminine form Johanna abbreviated as Joha.
 * Thomas may be written as Ths.'
 * Thor and variations such as Thorkild, may be abbreviated as Th.

Scandinavian Records Extraction
Sometimes reading a name in a record can be challenging. Other times you can read the name but may not be sure of the gender (based on the name alone). In the 1980s the Genealogical Society of Utah published Scandinavian Records Extraction: An Instructional Guide, which included a list of 4,562 Nordic given names. Each given name has either female or male in the Sex column to indicate the gender associated with that name. The list of names can be found at Scandinavian Given Names.