Swedish patronymic name changes
In 1755 I have an ancestor with the last name of Ersdotter. Can her father's first name be Eric? Her first name on the later household exams is kersten. Can her first name be Cristina? I guess the question deals with changes of names over time and from generation to generation. Jan and Johan seem to be interchangeable for example. thanks
Answers
-
Hi Paul, thank you for reaching out to FamilySearch Community. I don't know if this will help - half of my ancestors are Norwegian rather than Swedish but in my tree at the same time of your ancestor they are still using the patronymic system of naming children. You would therefore expect the same system to be in place in Sweden since Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were in a political union for many years. In that system I would have expected her surname to be Eriksdotter so not sure how Ersdotter comes about. Kersten or Kirsten or Kjersti seem too different to suddenly become Cristina so I would investigate that a bit further if you can. As far as Jan and Johan go that appears to be a straightforward contraction and Jan may just be the name that was used in the family. For example, my Uncle Johannes Larsen was is known to everyone in the family as Onkel Johs. Like I say, I donæt know how much this helps but perhaps someone with more Swedish ancestry knowledge will be able to add to this. Good luck with your research og Ha en bra dag.
0 -
Hi Paul! You already received a good answer but maybe I could add some ideas that your question raised in me . I am from Finland and in the 18th century Finland was part of Sweden. So we have same kind of church records (like communion books) than they did in Sweden at that time. That´s why I have been thinking same kind of questions than you for instance about what is the name of the farther if the patronymic is for instance Ersdotter. I have noticed like you that often it has been Eric (especially in the 18th century). It could also have been Erik as John told. Sometimes priests could use Latin and name were Ericus or Erici - but likely not anymore in 1755. Maybe also other forms? And names could be spelled differently in different church records. But I would use Eric or Erik.
They could also write first names differently in different church records. If you are not quite sure if a certain name (in Sweden) could be the same as in another communion book, you can get help from FamilySearch Wiki. When you go in Wiki to Sweden you can find from right side of the page Personal Names. There is told very much about names in Sweden. There it is said about Christina - different forms of the name:
Christina, Kristina, Cherstin, Christin, Christine, Kerstin, Kirsti, Kjerstin, Kjersti, Kristin, Kristine, Christa, Stina
And from there you can also find much about Swedish names, patronymic... - Unfortunately nothing about Eric. If you want to find help from the FamilySearch Help Center about Swedish naming or patronymic names it brings you into the same place, to FS Wiki Personal Names. Here is the link.
0