Lack of variety in patronymic names

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi everyone,
 
I have been wondering why names such as Fritz, Ferdinand, Hesekiel, Viktor, etc.(which are found as parts of given names in various records) didn't eventually result in more Fritzssons, Ferdinandssons, Hesekielssons, Viktorssons, etc. We have so many Johanssons, Peterssons, Nilssons, etc. and so few names which are less common.
 
Was there a particular reason why certain names were not often used as patronymics? I know I find it much easier searching for a Simonsson than searching for an Olofsson and it would perhaps have been easier in daily life if people didn't just use a very few patronymic names.
 
Judy

[Elisabeth Thorsell]

Judy, the names you mention (Fritz, Ferdinand etc.) are modern names that started to be used in the middle 1800s. At the same time the old patronymic surnames were getting frozen and the old way of building surnames was not the way to do it anymore. At least I think that is part of the explanation.
 
In the 1700s I have come across a Hieronymus, and his children had their patronymic spelled many very different ways, so it took quite some time before I could figure out the name of their father.

[Heikki Särkkä]

The simple answer is that there were not many people
called Fritz (I still have to find the first given name Fritz in Finland), Ferdinand or Victor (these last very few earlier on).
Second, if the patronym would have had a string of three consecutive consonants, it was  often modified by stripping one s. There are a few Alexssons or Felixssons, but many more Alexsons and Felixsons.  
 
Heikki

[Judy Olson Baouab]

Hi Elisabeth and Heikki,
 
Thanks for your replies. I appreciate your insights into these names.
 
I hadn't thought about old names vs. modern names, but I've seen some names (such as Simon) from the very early days. I don't see a lot of Simonssons, however. Although it was hard to read Hieronymus, it would have been easier to search for his children. It would be easier to figure out who belonged to who in the early days when birth years were all that the priest wrote (and often he just put an age, which didn't necessarily match well with ages in later years, or maybe no indication of age was ever provided. Those early records didn't have the great information of later years.)
 
I never knew about the spelling rules for patronymics.That is interesting information, Heikki.
 
I just wish that the parents had named fewer children Johan and more children Viktor, etc. I realize the other names weren't very common, but I wish they had been. Were the people required to use biblical names in the early days?
 
Is there a site listing names from various time periods? (I know about sites where we can enter a name and learn the earliest use in Sweden, but is there a site where the most popular names were listed by time periods?) Don't worry about it if you don't know about such sites, but it would be a nice thing to know if you already have that information.  
 
I'm sorry to ask these hard-to-answer questions, but I have learned that Anbytarforum is the best place to ask because so many expert Swedes use this board. I'm curious about things that no one else seems to ask.
 
Tack så mycket!
 
Judy