Scandinavian Surnames

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Persons researching families of Scandinavian origin have a sometimes unrecognised difficulty. This is because a child did not always take the family name, but instead created one from the father's first name.

Consider Susana Madsen, daughter of Mads Christensen.

The daughter has in this case constructed her name to mean 'child of Mads', and happily puts this name to marriage documents and the like. Indeed, her father can be seen to have done the same and constructed a name from his own father (Christen).

This procedure has been quite common in many Scandinavian countries, and is still practised in Iceland, so genealogists beware!

She could also have chosen 'Susana Madsdatter', to be even more precise.

Clearly the risk is obvious when the 'sen' part of the name is seen, but do not be too complacent, for names like MATSON are potentially similar, with 'Matt's son' being the source. For 'son' read 'child' , as some countries use a gender defined suffix, and others do not.

Thus if your line heads back towards Scandinavia, it may well pay to ask some pertinent questions before allowing frustration to pervade all...

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