Swedish surnames

Swedish Names

The patronymic naming system was used up to the end of the 19th century.  90 and 95% of the population used the patronymic naming system. Every child was eighter the son of or the daughter of the father. If the father’s name was Anders Eriksson, his son’s name might be Lars Andersson. Anders son = son of Anders. The daughter might that way be named Kersti Andersdotter, Anders dotter= Daughter of Anders. When she was married, she did not adopt her husband’s name, but kept her patronymic.

Surnames or family names were used by the nobility, the clergy. The nobility had special noble name often used with a prefix as af, von or de. Less than 1% of the population was nobility.
Many of the clergy took names with Greek or Latin endings such as "ander" or "ius" often in combination with the place the origin. Examples of names used by the clergy are Fallander and Morelius.

Soldiers and some townspeople adopted family names often from the nature. A military name could for example be associated with the place where the person served.These names usually would consist of two parts of nature such as Dalberg. Dal = valley and berg =mountain.
If the soldiers didn´t get a nature name they were  also very often given names that represented a personal quality like Rapp= quick, or Nöjd = satisfied  When leaving the military service, some soldiers did keep their military name while some returned to using their patronymic name.
When the emigrant moved to a new country, he or she often changed their name. If they emigrated to English speaking countries, the name was often Anglicized. Married women would adopt their husband’s surname. Examples of name changes are:

1. 1. Andersson Anderson (The double s becomes one s.)
2. 2. Bengtsson Benson, Bentson
3. 3. Johansson Johnson
4. 4. Sjöberg Seaberg or Seeberg

It is very important to understand that the name and spelling of a name for one individual can differ in the various records. It is important to compare birth dates and other family information to verify that you are tracing the correct person.

Source: Genline