Bridge to Sweden

Bridge to Sweden Newsletter no 17 April 2005
Photo: Marie Louise Bratt
Why this old shoe? Because I found this shoe, many years ago, in the house where my mormor, my maternal grandmother, lived with her parents, brothers and sisters. And an awareness grew in me, for the first time, that I was part of a chain of people, those born before and those who will come after me. Was it my grandmother's shoe? Or maybe all of the children in the family wore it (and hopefully a second shoe as well!) - first one child and then the next one... Until it was forgotten in a corner - to be found by me about 75 years later. This happened during a visit with relatives, when I was 13 years old, in a little parish in Västergötland, called Håle-Täng, and that's when my interest in genealogy started.
Swedish names There was a time when, in small Swedish villages, everybody knew each other and a last name was simply not needed. Occasionally the name of the farm was added so that Anna was called Anna på Godegården (Anna on the Good Farm). You’ll sometimes encounter this custom even today, in rural areas. Also, Swedes, like people from other countries, often use nicknames, so don’t get confused if grandma Charlotta signed her letters Lotta. Here are a few common nicknames: Nisse (nickname for Nils) , Olle (Olof), Kalle (Karl), Stina (Kristina) and Lasse (Lars).
Last names (surnames) were first used in the 17th century. Early on most people used patronymic surnames, which worked like this: Anders Karlsson and Anna Pettersdotter got a daughter named Kristina. Kristina's last name was Andersdotter, Anders from her father’s first name and dotter meaning daughter. They also had a son named Magnus Andersson, the son of Anders. Note that the women kept their names even after marriage. Late in the 1800’s the last name became fixed and both girls and boys increasingly used their father’s last name. Kristina Andersdotter, whom you met above, then used the name Kristina Karlsson.
Name changes Anders was a very common first name, so there were lots of Andersson children in Sweden. Petter, Johan, Erik and other names were also common, and so were therefore the names Pettersson, Johansson and Eriksson and many other names ending with -son. Swedish authorities then, in order to avoid confusion, encouraged people to change their names. Many people chose names taken from nature: trees, flowers etc (see below). These name changes, of course, might cause big problems for those of you who want to find your Swedish relatives. I once searched for my great-grandfather (mormorsfar) and assumed that his name would be the same as my grandmother’s, Landquist. Not so! On grandma’s birth certificate her father was Johan Magnusson (Magnus was his father's first name), his patronymic name that he later changed to Landquist.
Names from nature Swedes’ love of nature is reflected in names such as Ask (ash tree), Björk (birch tree), Berg (mountain) and composite names such as Sjöstrand (lake shore), Blomkvist (flower twig) and Ekström (oak stream). Here are some nature words, which you might recognize in your own name:
Trees Al alder Ask ash Asp aspen Björk birch En juniper Ek oak Gran spruce Hassel hazel Lind linden tree Tall pine Lund grove of trees Löv (löf) leaf Rot root Skog forest Blad leaf Kvist (quist or qvist) twig Gren branch	Landscape etc. Berg mountain Bo nest Dal (dahl) valley Fält (feldt) field Hult hill Kulle hill Land land Mark ground Mo heath Sten stone Åker field Äng (eng) meadow	Directions Nord, norr north Söder south Väster west Öster east Flowers Blomma flower Ros rose Lilja lily Ljung heather
	Other nature words Grund shallow Grön green Järn (jern) iron Malm ore Stjärna (stjerna) star	Water Bäck brook Flod river Fors rapids Holme small island Källa spring Mosse bog Sjö lake Ström stream Sund sound, channel Udde point Vik bay Ö island
Soldiers’ names Soldiers were often given new names, in part because of the risk of confusing one Johansson with another one. So the military gave names to the soldiers such as Skjöld (shield), Tapper (courageous) and Hjelm (helmet), and also Dolk, Flink, Hurtig, Munter, Sträng. Even the soldier children often received these new names. If you believe your name might be a soldier's name, and you have questions, just send me an email and I'll try to help.
Name changes of emigrants When Swedes emigrated to the U.S., Canada or Australia, many changed their names. Some of these changes were minor, e.g. the Swedish letters å, ä and ö lost their dots and circles and became a and o. This way the name Källström, for example, became Kallstrom. Sometimes the changes were greater and the name therefore more difficult to recognize. An example would be the name Holmgren, which might become Holmgrain. I have often seen the Swedish name Bengtsson change into Benson, or a variation of it, in the US or in Canada. Certain immigrants translated their names into English, so that the name Sjöstrand became Seashore and others took entirely new names. As you see, you'll often need great ingenuity in order to find the names used in Sweden. However, knowing the Swedish name is important for your continued research. More on name changes here.
Västergötland, located in the western part of Sweden, is a province of farms, big lakes (Vänern and Vättern), churches from the middle ages and rune stones from the Viking age. It's also where I spent my childhood summers, with my relatives, in a little village called Fåglum. The province (landskap) of Västergötland is one of three provinces within the county (län) of Västra Götaland, the other two being Bohuslän and Dalsland. Until quite recently there were instead three counties: Skaraborg, Älvsborg and Göteborgs och Bohus län. And since you, in your research, are mostly dealing with the 1800s and early 1900s, these are the counties you'll be interested in. For example, all these church records are organized by counties Skaraborg, Älvsborg and Göteborgs och Bohus län. The largest city of this area is Göteborg (Gothenburg), the second largest city of Sweden (and where I was born). It's from Göteborg that over one million Swedes emigrated. The well-known Swedish-American genealogist Nils William Olsson wrote this very helpful article about the emigrants' travel across the Atlantic, mostly starting from Göteborg. Landsarkivet i Göteborg has the original emigration records for most of these emigrants. I also have the CD called Emigranten, with much of this information, so please write to me if you want to know when your emigrants left and where they came from. Please include everything you know about them to facilitate my helping you. Emigranternas Hus, in Göteborg, is a new center for the study of migration. It's located in Tullhuset, the old Customs house, in the harbour. All emigrants had to pass through this building and show their emigration papers before boarding the ship. On the day of leaving, on the dock below, there was a special emigration mass. My mother, who grew up in Göteborg, often told me about visiting the festivities in the harbour, with its music, confetti, crowds of people - and many tears. Older records, up to around 1895, for this area are stored at Landsarkivet i Göteborg. For later records, please contact me for addresses.
Halland is located southwest of Västergötland, right on the Atlantic coast. It's now a favorite tourist area, but a hundred years ago it was poor. At that time over 50,000 people, most of them very young, abandoned Halland with a hope that Amerika, Kanada, Australien and other countries would offer a better life. Halland is the name of the county (län) and of the province (landskap) - so just for a change, things are easy in Halland! Do you still have research to do before traveling to Sweden and your ancestors' home? Records from Halland are stored at Landsarkivet i Lund and you can contact them for help. Halland Genealogical Association, (unfortunately their web site is written in Swedish only) is a very useful site - if you can read Swedish! I'm also always happy to help!
Öland, the long and narrow island just off the coast of Småland, on the Baltic side, is another one of our places to visit during this midsummer trip. The southern part of the island has been declared a World Heritage site with its interesting ancient culture. Old churches abound and burial grounds from the iron age and before are many. Borgholm slott (castle) was built in the 12th century and is an interesting sight to visit. The province of Öland is located in the county (län) of Kalmar. Kalmar län also includes a part of Småland.
If you enjoyed this newsletter and found it useful, please forward it to friends and relatives who might be interested. And if you no longer want to receive it, just let me know and I'll remove your name from my list of subscribers. Jag önskar er en underbar vår! (I wish you a wonderful spring!) Marie Louise Bratt www.bridgetosweden.com New address: Marie Louise Bratt Bridge to Sweden Vigelsjöhöjden 1B 76152 Norrtälje Sweden This is how you get to our front page!