Patronymics in Your Family Tree?
Do you have patronymics in your family tree? This is likely the case if you see constant changes of surnames. In this blog, you will find information about what they are, their use over time, and an effective strategy to overcome patronymics in your family tree research.
What is Patronymics?
Patronymic surnames were the norm for centuries in Sweden. In this blog, we look into the evolution of patronymics over time. Unlike fixed family surnames, people were identified by their father’s first name followed by the suffix “-son” for sons or “-dotter” for daughters. For example, if Lars Eriksson and Maja Jönsdotter had a son named Erik, the son’s name would be Erik Larsson, and if he had a daughter named Karna, her name would be Karna Larsdotter.
If Karna then married Pär Andersson, they would keep their respective surnames while their children’s last names would be Pärsson or Pärsdotter. As a result, a single nuclear family could have at least three or four different surnames. There could be even more variations of surnames if additional fathers, mothers or perhaps foster children were added to the family over time.
Evolution of Patronymics
The patronymic system made surnames change with each generation. This was a practice that dated back to at least the medieval times and the reign of King Gustav Vasa (also known as Gustav Eriksson Vasa) in the 1500s. The system applied across all social classes. Fixed surnames were very uncommon. If you encounter one in your family tree, it might indicate origins outside Sweden.
Last names in Sweden at that time could also be a title reflecting the person’s profession, such as Olof Bagare (Baker), or Johan Skräddare (Tailor). By the 1500s-1600s, many priests had also had taken fixed names of which many ended in “-ander” and “-us”, such as Wallander and Bergius. In addition, soldiers were given last names when they joined the military to tell them a part from each other. Their names could be adjectives that reflected their character such as Fast (Firm), Frisk (Healthy), and Rask (Brisk).
Evolution of First Names
During the reign of Gustav Vasa’s grandson, Gustav II Adolf, in the 1600s, first name practices in cities began to change. Noble families started giving their children more than one first name, inspired by the name of the King Gustav II Adolf. The burghers soon followed suit.
Eventually, the practice of giving children multiple first names spread to the countryside, where the vast majority of the Swedish population lived as farmers. Around the same time, the nobility also began adopting fixed surnames. The practice of adopting fixed surnames, as well as multiple first names that give you more to search for, can prove beneficial for your family research.
Devolution of Patronymics
By the late 1800s, more people were adopting fixed surnames. This may be good for you research. However, it can also add to the challenges of overcoming patronymics in your family tree. You then have to determine that it is the very person you are researching that changes names. There were no regulations on how to change a name at that time. All a person of legal age had to do was to say that they, and/or a family member of theirs, changed their name. You will often find a note of that in a church record or other.
Although it was easy to take a fixed name, the patronymic system persisted well into the 1900s. It wasn’t until 1966 that a law officially ended the use of patronymics in Sweden. However, already in 1901, a regulation encouraged Swedes to adopt fixed surnames. As a result many took their father’s patronymic name as their fixed family surname or chose an entirely new one. These new surnames were often inspired by the places they lived, such as Fagerlund (beautiful grove), or by nature, such as Lindgren (linden branch).
Overcoming Patronymics
The patronymic practice in Sweden can complicate your genealogy research. However, on the bright side, being able to instantly know a person’s father’s first name by looking at their surname also provides an opportunity. The key to overcoming patronymics is to identify the first individual to start your research with correctly in your family tree. Once you have established this person’s identity, it becomes easier to trace other ancestors back in time.
Sweden has a history of keeping thorough records of its population which facilitates family research. However good the records are, misidentifying the initial person can lead your research in the totally wrong direction. A successful approach to identifying this first person often involves focusing on the individual’s birth details – when and where they were born – rather than their name. That is a good strategy for overcoming partonymics.
Hejdå for now 🙂
Anna
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