Anbytarforum
Särskilda ämnen & övrigt => Discussions in English => Swedish names => Ämnet startat av: Diane Blomgren skrivet 2015-05-13, 07:05
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Hello, all,
I'm researching Arvid Samuel Arvidsson of Döderhult AI:11 (1852-1860) Image 375 / page 366 where it says he was born in Malmö 20 August 1816. I looked in the birth records for Malmö Sankt Petri, the largest parish, and didn't find him. Then I looked in Malmö Caroli CI:9 (1814-1826) Image 42 / page 75 where I found an Arfvid Samuel born on that date to Bengt Arfvidsson. But that boy's name should have been Arvid Samuel Bengtsson, eller hur? Is it possible he took his grandfather's name as his patronym?
MVH, Diane
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I think that he rather took his father's name as his family name. At this time some started to use family names, others still used patronyms.
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Hi, Leif,
Did you mean he rather took his grandfather's name as his family name (surname)? I'll see if I can find any siblings and see what they did as well.
Best, Diane
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I just found proof in Malmö Caroli PersonReg:6 (1845-1854) Image 23 that Arvid Samuel did take the surname Arvidsson. I notice in Malmö that there are fewer patronyms and more surnames, so I guess he decided to follow the trend.
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Arvid Samuel's father was Bengt Arvidsson. Thus Arvid Samuel took his fathers patronym as his family name, which of course was a patronym his father had from his father. This was a trend that started in the cities.
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Ah, now I understand. Thank you for the information about the trend.
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Can you tell me more about the time this trend started? Was it in all of Sweden and was it the beginning of the end of patronymic system in Sweden? I have a great-grandmother (Gustafva Germundsson b 15 Feb 1864 in Stenbrohult, Kronoberg) that I have never found in the records as Germundsdotter, always Germundsson. She was not in a big city, but was born out of wedlock, with her mother later getting married to Germund, her father.
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I don't know of any statistics, but some cases can be seen around mid 1800 and it was quite common in the end of the nineteenth century. The new name law in 1905 made family names the norm and women took/got the husbands name when married, but some people used patronyms much later. My wife born 1947 had one but it was just as Gustava's a -son-name, and some still use patronyms with -dotter even today. You can´t say what the name should be, as it -within some limitations- was up to the people to use what they liked. Karl Andersson could have some children named Karlsson or Karlsdotter and others chose Andersson.
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Thank you for commenting further on this subject, it will help with explaining the variations to my family who find the patronymic naming confusing to begin with. As always, I find the help on this forum to be most helpful and appreciated!