Names can be difficult, even confusing when different cultures and nationalities meet.In the Christian world names can be similar but still spelled differently depending on country. This article is about Swedish names. Prior to 1901 it was easy to change one’s name in Sweden, both given names and surnames. You just went to the parish minister of the parish and told him which name you now went by. The only restriction was that you couldn’t adopt a typical noble family name.Spelling of names are of course individual, and people are entitled to spell their names in any way they want. However, there are traditional ways of spelling names, even if the traditions have varied over the years.
The “th” sound
The Swedish language doesn’t have the “th” sound. However, some people spell their names with “th”. For example, Elisabeth and Arthur.The traditional Swedish spelling of such names are Elisabet and Artur. This is still the most common spelling of such names. Note, the additional “h” doesn’t change the pronunciation of such names in Swedish. The “h” is mute and merely a decoration.So, Elisabeth and Arthur are in Swedish pronounced in Swedish as Elisabet and Artur.
PH vs F
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “ph” instead of “f”. For example, Jospehine or Sophia. In the 1906 spelling reform the “ph” was replaced with “f” so the normal spelling was thereafter Josefine and Sofia.
C vs K
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “c” instead of “k”. In the 20th century it changed to “k” rather than “c”. For example, Carl Oscar or Victor or Eric became Karl Oskar and Viktor and Erik.
CH vs CK
Another fashion formerly was to spell names with “ch” instead of “ck”. Today these names are commonly spelled “ck”. For example, Richard vs Rickard.
V vs F and PH vs F
Formerly “F” was commonly used in names were we today use “V”. For example, Gustaf is today spelled Gustav. Another such example is Olof and Olov.Also “Ph” has at times been used instead of “F”. For example, Philip versus Filip. Filip is today the most common spelling.
KV vs QV
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “qv” rather than “kv”. After the 1906 spelling reform the “kv” spelling was preferred. For example, names such as Lingquist are most often spelled Lingkvist today.
Ending in “a” of female names
Many Swedish female names often end in an “a”. In English many corresponding names end in “e” or “y”. For example, Charlotta vs Charlotte, Paulina vs Pauline or Rosa vs Rose. Other examples are Jennie vs Jenny, Anna vs Anne or Emma vs Emmy.
Von and af
Many Swedish noble families have “von” in their family names. “von” is originally German and means “from”. The corresponding Swedish word used by noble families is “af”. Also “af” means from.So, among Swedish nobility you can see both “von” as well as “af”. Now, many noble names do not have either “von” or “af”.How are “von” and “af” pronounced? Von is pronounced “fan”, i.e. with an initial “f” sound. For example, Carl von Linné is pronounced “Carl fon Linné”.“af” on the other hand is pronounced with an ending “v” sound. For example, Carolina af Ugglas is pronounced “Carolina av Ugglas.”In Swedish both “von” and “af” are always spelled in lower case, even in the beginning of a sentence.
Patronymic son-names
Swedish “son” names are always spelled with two “s”, i.e. Andersson or Johnsson. These names are former patronymic names and denote that the person is someone’s son. Andersson means son of Anders or Anders’s son, therefore Andersson (two “s”).Swedish patronymic male names always end in “son”. If a name ends in “sen”, for example Andersen, it is either a Danish or Norwegian name.Swedish patronymic female names always ends in “dotter”, for example Andersdotter. If a name ends in “datter”, for example Andersdatter, it is either a Danish or Norwegian name.
Pronunciation of Swedish Names
The pronunciation of names beginning with “J”
The Swedish “J” sound is different from the English “J” sound. The Swedish “J” sound is more like the English “Y” sound.For example, a Swedish man named Johnny is pronounced in Swedish in a way that a native English-speaking person will perceive as “Yohnny”.The Swedish “DJ” sound is similar to the English “J” sound. The Swedish word “Djur” (Animal) is pronounced “Jur” in English (with an English “J” sound).So, if Johnny would have been spelled “Djohnny” a swede would pronounce it like an American would pronounce Johnny.
The pronunciation of names beginning with “V” or “W”
In Swedish, V and W are more or less the same letter. W and V are pronounced in the same way. For example, Valter and Walter are pronounced identically. The Swedish pronunciation of both V and W is like the pronunciation of the English “W”.So, when a Swede says “thank you very much” it might sound to a native English speaking person as “thank you wery much”.Mute “H” in the beginning of a nameSometimes, names beginning with “HJ” have a mute “H”. Hjalmar is pronounced Jalmar in Swedish. However, for example, the pronunciation of Hjalmar would sound “Yalmar” to a native English-speaking person.
Å, Ä and Ö
The Swedish alphabet is similar to the English alphabet, but has three more letters: Å, Ä and Ö. In alphabetical order, these letters are at the end of the alphabet, after the letter Z and in that order.The letters Å, Ä and Ö are letters in their own right and not variants of letters A and O. Since Å, Ä and Ö are letters with a distinct sound, not an A or an O with an accent, it is best to keep them when referring to Scandinavian names in other languages. Otherwise you might end up with a totally different name or a name that doesn’t exist. If you type a name of a person that does have dots above an A or an O without adding the dots you might end up with another name that also exists.For example, the surnames Jonsson and Jönsson are both common names in Sweden. If ancestor’s surname was Jönsson and in English text is referred to as Jonsson he has been given a different name – a name that also exists but not used by this person. Besides, the two names are pronounced differently. Letter “Ö” has a distinct sound different from the sound of letter “O”.Since these types of names are patronymic names you have also given this person a different first name of his father. Jönsson means son of Jöns while Jonsson means son of Jonas or Jon. Other examples of names that can cause confusion since the all are valid names are: Mollberg vs Möllberg, Hallberg vs Hällberg, Marta vs Märta.In some cases, a Swede will easily spot a misspelled name. For example, if Sjöberg is written as Sjoberg it is not too bad because Sjoberg is not a name used in Sweden and a Swede will understand that it is Sjöberg the writer meant to write.So, to avoid misunderstanding and confusion it is best to keep the dots for letters Å, Ä and Ö in names. This is true for both names of people as well as of names of places.For more information, see How to type Swedish characters
Americanization of names
Swedish immigrants to the US often Americanized their names in North America. This not only applies for surnames but also given names.There is a widespread myth that family names were changed at the US immigrant stations. They were not.The legend goes that officials at Ellis Island, unfamiliar with the many languages and nationalities of the people arriving at Ellis Island, would change the names of those immigrants that sounded foreign, or unusual. However, inspectors did not create records of immigration; rather they checked the names of the immigrants against those recorded in the ship's manifest. The manifests were made up by the steamship companies and presented to the officials at Ellis Island when the ships arrived.Immigrant inspectors at Ellis Island simply accepted the names as recorded in the ship's manifests and never altered them unless persuaded that a mistake had been made in the spelling or rendering of the name.Immigration authorities had numerous interpreters to question immigrants if necessary to satisfy any question they might have. They were more concerned with the truthfulness of answers than the actual spelling of names.Although it is always possible that the names of passengers were spelt wrong, perhaps by the ship’s officers when the manifests were drawn up, it is more likely that immigrants were their own agents of change.So, in most cases, when a name of a Swedish immigrant does not match his or her name in Sweden, it was changed by the immigrant to “Americanize” it, simply to assimilate into the US society. Swedes with patronymics (father names) often adopted a family name and then chose a name that also would work in English.Patronymic names could be misunderstood in the United States since the children then do not carry the same surname as the parents. Thereby there was a risk that the children would be regarded as illegitimate children which was as bad in the United States as in Sweden.Further, married couples with patronymics do not carry the same surname either which could create problems in the United States. Therefore, it was common that the wives adopted the same surname as their husbands when they emigrated from Sweden.Some dropped the dots above Å, Ä and Ö. For example, Söderlund became Soderlund.Others translated their Swedish names into English, for example Sjöberg became Seaberg. Another example is Ljugkvist became Youngquist. This is not a literal translation. Instead the bearer of the name focused on a similar pronunciation.Others simple adopted a completely new surname.Not only surnames but also given names were Americanized. Nils became Nels; Anders, Andrew. Maria became Mary; Märta, Martha; Kristina, Christine ect.These name changes are of course a problem for genealogists. So, if you are a Swede tracing your relatives in the US or an American tracing your ancestors in Sweden the name changes are an obstacle. You must find the names used both in Sweden as well as in the US to be able to follow your ancestors in the sources available.If you are an American tracing your ancestors in Sweden the dots above letters Å, Ä and Ö are important. For example, (as mentioned above) Jönsson and Jonsson are two different names.
Names can be difficult, even confusing when different cultures and nationalities meet.In the Christian world names can be similar but still spelled differently depending on country. This article is about Swedish names. Prior to 1901 it was easy to change one’s name in Sweden, both given names and surnames. You just went to the parish minister of the parish and told him which name you now went by. The only restriction was that you couldn’t adopt a typical noble family name.Spelling of names are of course individual, and people are entitled to spell their names in any way they want. However, there are traditional ways of spelling names, even if the traditions have varied over the years.
The “th” sound
The Swedish language doesn’t have the “th” sound. However, some people spell their names with “th”. For example, Elisabeth and Arthur.The traditional Swedish spelling of such names are Elisabet and Artur. This is still the most common spelling of such names. Note, the additional “h” doesn’t change the pronunciation of such names in Swedish. The “h” is mute and merely a decoration.So, Elisabeth and Arthur are in Swedish pronounced in Swedish as Elisabet and Artur.
PH vs F
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “ph” instead of “f”. For example, Jospehine or Sophia. In the 1906 spelling reform the “ph” was replaced with “f” so the normal spelling was thereafter Josefine and Sofia.
C vs K
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “c” instead of “k”. In the 20th century it changed to “k” rather than “c”. For example, Carl Oscar or Victor or Eric became Karl Oskar and Viktor and Erik.
CH vs CK
Another fashion formerly was to spell names with “ch” instead of “ck”. Today these names are commonly spelled “ck”. For example, Richard vs Rickard.
V vs F and PH vs F
Formerly “F” was commonly used in names were we today use “V”. For example, Gustaf is today spelled Gustav. Another such example is Olof and Olov.Also “Ph” has at times been used instead of “F”. For example, Philip versus Filip. Filip is today the most common spelling.
KV vs QV
In the 19th century it was common to spell names with “qv” rather than “kv”. After the 1906 spelling reform the “kv” spelling was preferred. For example, names such as Lingquist are most often spelled Lingkvist today.
Ending in “a” of female names
Many Swedish female names often end in an “a”. In English many corresponding names end in “e” or “y”. For example, Charlotta vs Charlotte, Paulina vs Pauline or Rosa vs Rose. Other examples are Jennie vs Jenny, Anna vs Anne or Emma vs Emmy.
Von and af
Many Swedish noble families have “von” in their family names. “von” is originally German and means “from”. The corresponding Swedish word used by noble families is “af”. Also “af” means from.So, among Swedish nobility you can see both “von” as well as “af”. Now, many noble names do not have either “von” or “af”.How are “von” and “af” pronounced? Von is pronounced “fan”, i.e. with an initial “f” sound. For example, Carl von Linné is pronounced “Carl fon Linné”.“af” on the other hand is pronounced with an ending “v” sound. For example, Carolina af Ugglas is pronounced “Carolina av Ugglas.”In Swedish both “von” and “af” are always spelled in lower case, even in the beginning of a sentence.
Patronymic son-names
Swedish “son” names are always spelled with two “s”, i.e. Andersson or Johnsson. These names are former patronymic names and denote that the person is someone’s son. Andersson means son of Anders or Anders’s son, therefore Andersson (two “s”).Swedish patronymic male names always end in “son”. If a name ends in “sen”, for example Andersen, it is either a Danish or Norwegian name.Swedish patronymic female names always ends in “dotter”, for example Andersdotter. If a name ends in “datter”, for example Andersdatter, it is either a Danish or Norwegian name.
Pronunciation of Swedish Names
The pronunciation of names beginning with
“J”
The Swedish “J” sound is different from the English “J” sound. The Swedish “J” sound is more like the English “Y” sound.For example, a Swedish man named Johnny is pronounced in Swedish in a way that a native English-speaking person will perceive as “Yohnny”.The Swedish “DJ” sound is similar to the English “J” sound. The Swedish word “Djur” (Animal) is pronounced “Jur” in English (with an English “J” sound).So, if Johnny would have been spelled “Djohnny” a swede would pronounce it like an American would pronounce Johnny.
The pronunciation of names beginning with
“V” or “W”
In Swedish, V and W are more or less the same letter. W and V are pronounced in the same way. For example, Valter and Walter are pronounced identically. The Swedish pronunciation of both V and W is like the pronunciation of the English “W”.So, when a Swede says “thank you very much” it might sound to a native English speaking person as “thank you wery much”.Mute “H” in the beginning of a nameSometimes, names beginning with “HJ” have a mute “H”. Hjalmar is pronounced Jalmar in Swedish. However, for example, the pronunciation of Hjalmar would sound “Yalmar” to a native English-speaking person.
Å, Ä and Ö
The Swedish alphabet is similar to the English alphabet, but has three more letters: Å, Ä and Ö. In alphabetical order, these letters are at the end of the alphabet, after the letter Z and in that order.The letters Å, Ä and Ö are letters in their own right and not variants of letters A and O. Since Å, Ä and Ö are letters with a distinct sound, not an A or an O with an accent, it is best to keep them when referring to Scandinavian names in other languages. Otherwise you might end up with a totally different name or a name that doesn’t exist. If you type a name of a person that does have dots above an A or an O without adding the dots you might end up with another name that also exists.For example, the surnames Jonsson and Jönsson are both common names in Sweden. If ancestor’s surname was Jönsson and in English text is referred to as Jonsson he has been given a different name – a name that also exists but not used by this person. Besides, the two names are pronounced differently. Letter “Ö” has a distinct sound different from the sound of letter “O”.Since these types of names are patronymic names you have also given this person a different first name of his father. Jönsson means son of Jöns while Jonsson means son of Jonas or Jon. Other examples of names that can cause confusion since the all are valid names are: Mollberg vs Möllberg, Hallberg vs Hällberg, Marta vs Märta.In some cases, a Swede will easily spot a misspelled name. For example, if Sjöberg is written as Sjoberg it is not too bad because Sjoberg is not a name used in Sweden and a Swede will understand that it is Sjöberg the writer meant to write.So, to avoid misunderstanding and confusion it is best to keep the dots for letters Å, Ä and Ö in names. This is true for both names of people as well as of names of places.For more information, see How to type Swedish characters
Americanization of names
Swedish immigrants to the US often Americanized their names in North America. This not only applies for surnames but also given names.There is a widespread myth that family names were changed at the US immigrant stations. They were not.The legend goes that officials at Ellis Island, unfamiliar with the many languages and nationalities of the people arriving at Ellis Island, would change the names of those immigrants that sounded foreign, or unusual. However, inspectors did not create records of immigration; rather they checked the names of the immigrants against those recorded in the ship's manifest. The manifests were made up by the steamship companies and presented to the officials at Ellis Island when the ships arrived.Immigrant inspectors at Ellis Island simply accepted the names as recorded in the ship's manifests and never altered them unless persuaded that a mistake had been made in the spelling or rendering of the name.Immigration authorities had numerous interpreters to question immigrants if necessary to satisfy any question they might have. They were more concerned with the truthfulness of answers than the actual spelling of names.Although it is always possible that the names of passengers were spelt wrong, perhaps by the ship’s officers when the manifests were drawn up, it is more likely that immigrants were their own agents of change.So, in most cases, when a name of a Swedish immigrant does not match his or her name in Sweden, it was changed by the immigrant to “Americanize” it, simply to assimilate into the US society. Swedes with patronymics (father names) often adopted a family name and then chose a name that also would work in English.Patronymic names could be misunderstood in the United States since the children then do not carry the same surname as the parents. Thereby there was a risk that the children would be regarded as illegitimate children which was as bad in the United States as in Sweden.Further, married couples with patronymics do not carry the same surname either which could create problems in the United States. Therefore, it was common that the wives adopted the same surname as their husbands when they emigrated from Sweden.Some dropped the dots above Å, Ä and Ö. For example, Söderlund became Soderlund.Others translated their Swedish names into English, for example Sjöberg became Seaberg. Another example is Ljugkvist became Youngquist. This is not a literal translation. Instead the bearer of the name focused on a similar pronunciation.Others simple adopted a completely new surname.Not only surnames but also given names were Americanized. Nils became Nels; Anders, Andrew. Maria became Mary; Märta, Martha; Kristina, Christine ect.These name changes are of course a problem for genealogists. So, if you are a Swede tracing your relatives in the US or an American tracing your ancestors in Sweden the name changes are an obstacle. You must find the names used both in Sweden as well as in the US to be able to follow your ancestors in the sources available.If you are an American tracing your ancestors in Sweden the dots above letters Å, Ä and Ö are important. For example, (as mentioned above) Jönsson and Jonsson are two different names.
