Sweden Personal Names

Back to Sweden►

Understanding surnames and given names can help you find and identify your ancestors in the records.

Surnames
Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as Johan. As the population increased, it became necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same name. The problem was usually solved by adding descriptive information. Johan became Johan the smith, Johan the son of Erik, Johan the short, or Johan from Borås. At first, such "surnames" applied only to one person and not to the whole family. After a few generations, these names were passed from father to children.

Surnames developed from four major sources:


 * Patronymic, based on the father's name, such as Johan Nilsson (son of Nils).
 * Nicknames, based on a person's characteristics, such as Pehr Fager (the fair).
 * Geographical, based on a person's place of birth or residence, such as Olof Grankulla.
 * Occupational, based on the person's trade, such as Lars Smed (Smith).

Surnames were first used by nobility and wealthy land owners. Later the custom was followed by merchants and townspeople and eventually by the rural population.

Most Swedish surnames are patronymic. Patronymic surnames changed with each generation. For example, Lars Pettersson was the son of a man named Petter. If Lars had a son named Hans, the son would be known as Hans Larsson (son of Lars). His brothers would be called Larsson, while a sister would be known as Larsdotter (daughter of Lars). When people used patronymics, a woman did not change her name at marriage.

When a young man went into the military he was given a new surname. This name could be based on his characteristics, such as Stark (strong) or Modig (brave), or the place where he was stationed. If the place was called Lillebäck, he may have been called Lillebäck or Bäck. Before the late 1800s, a military surname seldom became a family name. The son of a soldier, Petter Lillebäck, would likely have been known as Pettersson unless he became a soldier and took his father's post. Soldiers were alloted a house and piece of land which came with their post. In some cases a soldier would take the soldier-name of the the soldier who had previously held his post. Later, when family names were more common and sometimes when people emigrated from Sweden, the military name became the family surname.

When a young man became an apprentice to learn a trade, he would choose an additional surname, generally after reaching journeyman status.

The clergy and other learned men often "Latinized" their names. Thus Eric Karlsson became Ericus Caroli.

In 1901 a law required people to adopt permanent surnames to be passed onto successive generations.

Given Names
The earliest known Swedish names appear about 55 A. D. on some 2000 Runic stones scattered around the kingdom. Usually the given names were given to describe a quality or characteristic, or resemble an occurrence or occasion that was desired in the life of the born babe, such as Ragnvald, which means, “He who is mighty with power.”

At the turn of the first millennium of the Christian era, all of Sweden was Christianized, and a conscious effort was undertaken by the clergy to substitute the names of the Christian saints for the old Swedish names. Thus the apostolic names of Peter, Andrew, John, and Paul took on their present day form of:

Petrus, Peter, Pehr, Per Andreas , Anders  Johannes , Johan, Jön, Jon, Jean,  Paulus , Paul, Pål, Påhl

INTERCHANGEABLE FIRST NAMES
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. Some of the more common names and variants are listed below:

Male Names

Andreas, Anders, Andres, Andors Johannes, Johan, Jan, Jän, Jaen, Janne, Jean, Jön, Jon, Jöns, Jonas, Jens, Joen, John, Hans, Hasse Laurentius, Lars, Lasse Magnus, Måns, Mons Nicolaus, Nils, Niklas, Olaus, Ola, Olof, Oluf, Olle, Olav, Paulus, Paul, Pål, Påhl, Påfvel, Påfwel, Pofwel, Povel Petrus, Peter, Peder, Pehr, Pär, Per, Petter, Peter, Pelle, Päder, Pähr

Female Names

Anna, Anika, Annicka, Aina, Ann, Anne, Anette, Annie

Britta, Birgit, Birgitta, Brigitta, Brit, Brita Catharina, Catrina, Katrina, Trina, Cajsa, Kajsa, Cari, Carin, Kari, Karin, Karna, Katarina, Katinka, Katrin Charlotta, Lotta, Lotten Christina, Kristina, Cherstin, Christin, Christine, Kerstin, Kirsti, Kjerstin, Kjersti, Kristin, Kristine, Christa, Stina, Elisabetha, Elisabet, Elisa, Elise, Elsa, Else, Lisbet, Lisa, Lisken, Betty, Johanna, Hanna Helena, Elena, Ellen, Eljena, Elin, Lena Karin see Catharina above

Louisa, Lovisa Magdalena, Lena Maria, Maja, Maj, Mariana, Marianne, Marie, Marika, Marja, Mary, Mia, Majken Margareta, Margreta, Margit, Greta, Mareta, Maggie, Maret,

When baptized, children were usually given one name. Prominant or well-to-do families sometime gave their chidren two names or even three. The name may be that of a parent or other relative. A traditional way of naming children was as shown below, but it is important to know that this pattern was not always followed and was less common in some areas of Sweden.


 * The first son was named after the father's father.
 * The second son was named after the mother's father.
 * The third son was named after the father.
 * The fourth son was named after the fathers eldest brother.
 * The first daughter was named after the mother's mother.
 * The second daughter was named after the father's mother.
 * The third daughter was named after the mother.
 * The fourth daughter was named after the mothers eldest sister.

Some of the more common given names used in Sweden during the last four centuries are listed below:

FEMALE NAMES
Some good books on names are:


 * Kjöllerström, P. A. (Per August). Svenska dopnamn och släktnamn (Swedish Given Names and Surnames). Stockholm, Sweden: Wahlström &amp; Widstrand, 1913. (FHL films 1440226 item 14.)


 * Otterbjörk, Roland. Svenska förnamn: krotfattat namnlexikon (Swedish Given Names: A Brief Dictionary of Names). Stockholm, Sweden: Esselte Studium, 1979. (FHL book 948.5 D4o.)

For Swedish Naming Practices click here