Entering Last Names in FamilySearch
Are there rules or guidelines for recording last names in FamilySearch from Swedish records where a last name is not provided? Often the records give the father's name and birthdate and the mother's maiden name and birthdate, and then just the given names for the child(ren). Do you assume a patronymic name and add it as the last name, take the father's last name and add it as the last name, make that decision based on some year — like after 1875 always use the father's last name as a permanent last name, or do more research until you find a last name such as in a marriage or death record? Or do you record both names with an or example: LARSSON or SVENSDOTTER? What's the best practice and how would that affect searches in FamilySearch?
Answers
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This site gives comprehensive help in this area
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Sweden_Naming_Customs
This subheading might be the most helpful for what you are interested in on that page
Best Practices For Recording Names in Family Tree
- Surnames which are abbreviated in the records should be recorded fully spelled out
- Farm names (gårdsnamn) indicate residence and are not part of a person's name
- When a person's name is not given in the records, or only part of their name is known, see the instructions in Entering Unknown or Incomplete Names in Genealogy
But there are also many other unique situations mentioned on the page that you might not have considered. One of my team members who deals with a lot of Nordic names in her family has had her best luck using the name that the person decided to use as an adult. Keep in mind that sometimes naming of illigitimate children should be considered also. In all likelyhood you might need to do searches using many options available to you.
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The Sweden Naming Customs article is pretty decent. (Much better than the Norwegian one which has a lot of errors.)
You do just have to search the records and determine what any one family used for surnames. While patronymics are the most common prior to 1901 and fixed patronymic are most common after 1901 there are going to be exceptions. For example, one of my Swedish lines used the surname of Voigt very early on. But that is because the first to have the surname was a German soldier in Sweden.
For example, in this clip from a clerical survey from 1880:
there is Magnus Svendson and Eva Kaia Jonasdotter. The -dotter construction is only used in patronymics so that is what this family was using. Therefore the children should be recorded as Johan August, Magnusson, Anna Kristine Magnusdotter, etc.
However, in this survey from 1940:
the father is Ejnar Johan Gustav Bengtsson and the wife is Rut Karla Ingeborg f. (that is, born) Bengtsson. So the mother's maiden name is Bengtsson which is not a patronymic. It is a fixed patronymic. Fixed patronymics look like regular patronymics in that they end in -son but they do not change from generation to generation and there is no -dotter form. So all the children, both boys and girls, will have the same surname as the their father, that is, Bengtsson and should be recorded with that in Family Tree.
It's just a coincidence here that the wife's maiden name is the same as the husband's surname.
Here is another example from the same book:
Father's surname is Hult which is neither a patronymic or a fixed patronymic. Mother's surname was Isaksson which is a fixed patronymic (otherwise it would have been Isaksdotter). So the children should all be recorded with the surname of Hult.
You do have to watch out for military names, as discussed in the article, which were given to a man in the military but would not be passed down to be used any children.
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Thank you Gordon Collet for adding this additional information. A lot of people will benefit from it.
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