Because patronymics are so prevalent in Scandinavian countries searching your history can get confusing. But if you look a little closer at Scandinavian naming conventions, you could find a lot about Norwegian culture and your family’s own back story.
In some countries in Northern Europe where patronymics are prevalent, last names didn’t always mean surnames in the way we think of them today. Many families didn’t have matching surnames, but they had other ways of sharing names – each child would be given the name of the generation that came before their parents.
So names would go like this: if your grandfather was named Hans Pedersen married to Anna Andersdatter, your father would then be called Peder Hansen. Meanwhile, you would be either Hans Pedersen or Anna Pedersdatter depending on your gender. Sometimes, a toponymic or habitational surname like the name of a Norwegian village would be added, like Hans Pedersen på Korsmo (meaning Hans son of Peder from sandy meadow).
The first name naming convention according to Norwegian Ridge would go like this: the first child would be named for the paternal grandfather, the second child would be named for the paternal grandmother, the third child would be named for the maternal grandfather, the fourth would have the name of the maternal grandmother and so on. Any children coming after them would be given the names of great-grandparents.
For example, let’s say Hans Pedersen på Korsmo has four children with a woman named Sonja. Their first male child would be Peder Hansen, their second female child would be Anna Hansdatter, their next male child would then be named for Sonja’s father, and so on.
However, this is not a hard and fast rule. There are obviously exceptions to this naming convention, but knowing that these patterns enlisted could be really helpful on your search and could reveal some interesting family history.
If the family moved to the bride’s rather than the groom’s farm, as was the convention, then the order would be flipped – the first children would receive the name of the maternal grandfather and so on. Or, if a parent died, then one of the children would take on that name instead. It can be confusing because so many family members share the same name, but it does teach you a lot about your family tree!
If your surname comes from Old Norse origin or has Old Norse elements, you may have little trouble tracing the patronymics from person to person – you could just pick a male ancestor and follow the “sens” and “datters”. If you’re lucky or do some sleuthing, you might even be able to follow the patronymics back through the generations to ancient times!
