Scandinavian Genealogy

Parowan Family History Center

26 April 2014
by Eric Freden

Tips for Finding Your Ancestors in

Sweden Norway Finland Denmark

Step 1: find where your ancestor resided

to find the province/district/town/parish, try using

a searchable census database*
Ancestry.com has passenger manifests for many

ships crossing the Atlantic

Castlegarden.org catalogs 11 million immigrants

into NY from 1820-1892

Ellisisland.org does the same 1892-1924

* see concluding slides for more source URLs

Name of
relative

Village name
Hensgrd
Parish name
Vstra
Emtervik

Tips for Finding Your Ancestors in

Sweden Norway Finland Denmark

Step 2: locate parish records

after finding the district/town, determine the

parish using an appropriate map*
maps.google.com and mapquest.com will often

show villages within parishes

parish records are almost all online now*

Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish are free

* see concluding slides for more source URLs

Tips for Finding Your Ancestors in

Sweden Norway Finland Denmark

Step 3: examine parish records

this is what you will spend most of your time

and effort on
instead of having to travel to Europe, parish
records are almost all online now* and
accessible from your home or our Family
History Center

* see concluding slides for source URLs

Tips for Finding Your Ancestors in

Sweden Norway Finland Denmark

Parish records are labeled:

Kirkebokker

(Norwegian)

Kirkebger

Kyrkobcker (Swedish)

Kirkonkirja (Finnish)

(Danish)

Lutheran Parish Records

Kept from early 1600s on

Most useful types:

Household surveys

Lutheran Parish Records

Household surveys are labeled:

Husfrhrslngder (Swedish, Norwegian)

Rippikirja

Communionsbger

(Finnish)
(Danish)

Lutheran Parish Records

Household surveys are a goldmine for
genealogy:

They list (extended) family members

Most show birth/death/marriage dates

Many list move in/out dates, places

They have an index by village/farm names

They contain cross references

Most headings in Swedish, some Latin

marriage years
birth years

death years

cross
refs to
other
pages

same person
before and after
marriage

Lutheran Parish Records

Most useful types:

Household surveys

Birth/Christening records

Lutheran Parish Records

Birth/Christening records are labeled:

Fdte/dbte bokker

(Norwegian)

Fdte/dbte bgger

(Danish)

Fdelse/dop bcker

(Swedish)

Syntyneet/kastetut kirja (Finnish)

in 26 ditto (meaning September) Jon Larsson in Soneby

Lutheran Parish Records

Most useful types:

Household surveys

Birth/Christening records

Marriage records

Lutheran Parish Records

Marriage records are labeled:

Vielsebokker (Norwegian)

Vielsebger (Danish)

Vigselbcker (Swedish)

Vihityt

(Finnish)

Lutheran Parish Records

Most useful types:

Household surveys

Birth/Christening records

Marriage records

Death records

Lutheran Parish Records

Death/burial records are labeled:

Dde/begravede bokker (Norwegian)

Dde/begravede bger (Danish)

Dd/begravning bcker (Swedish)

Kuolleet/haudatut

(Finnish)

Lutheran Parish Records

Most useful types:

Household surveys

Birth/Christening records

Marriage records

Death records

Move in/out records (after 1850)

Lutheran Parish Records

Move out/move in records are labeled:

Udflytning/inflytning

(Norwegian, Danish)

Utflyttning/inflyttning (Swedish)

Muuttaneet

(Finnish)

Issues reading Parish Records

Patronymic naming scheme

In general, children kept the father's first

name + son/daughter as their surname.
For example, suppose Olof Svensson has
children Hans and Maria. They will be
respectively known as Hans Olofsson (or
Olsson) and Maria Olofsdotter (Olsdotter).
Women keep the patronymic surname even
after marriage.

Issues reading Parish Records

Patronymic naming scheme continued

Since there are only about 20 common

male names and 20 common female
names, this can lead to ambiguity.s
ambiguity.

Olof Jonsson and wife Cajsa Nilsdotter in village rns

3 pages later, in the same small village, another

Olof Jonsson and wife Cajsa Nilsdotter !

Issues reading Parish Records

Very common Swedish male names

Anders, Elof, Erik, Hans, Henrik, Hkan, Jon,

Jns, Johan, Karl, Matts, Mns, Nils, Olof, Pehr,
Peter, Phl, Sven

Less common Swedish male names

Abraham, Adrian, Andreas, Anton, Aron, Arvid,

Axel, Bengt, Bjrn, Bryngel, Brynt, David,
Gabriel, Gudman, Gunnar, Gustaf, Halvard,
Helmer, Israel, Jacob, Jonas, Josef, Konrad,
Ludvig, Magnus, Ola, Oscar, Sigfrid, Thomas

Issues reading Parish Records

Very common Swedish female names

Anna, Brita, Cajsa, Elin, Ella, Ingebor, Karin,

Katerina, Kirstin, Kristina, Lisa, Maja,
Margreta, Maria, Marit, Sofia

Less common Swedish female names

Ablona, Annika, Barbru, Beata, Dordi, Emma,

Esther, Gertrud, Gunilla, Hedvig, Hildegard,
Ida, Ingrid, Johanna, Lydia, Magdalena,
Malin, Sigrid, Wilhelmina

Issues reading Parish Records

Patronymic naming scheme continued

Since there are only about 20 common male

names and 20 common female names, this
can lead to ambiguity.
Sometimes soldiers or the upper-class
would adopt a fixed surname.

Issues reading Parish Records

Patronymic naming scheme continued

Since there are only about 20 common male

names and 20 common female names, this
can lead to ambiguity.
Sometimes soldiers would adopt a fixed
surname.
In Finland, patronymic surnames can be
superceded by farm names.

Issues reading Parish Records

Patronymic naming scheme continued

Since there are only about 20 common male

names and 20 common female names, this
can lead to ambiguity.
Sometimes soldiers would adopt a fixed
surname.
In Finland, patronymic surnames can be
superceded by farm names.
Spellings were not standardized until 1850

Issues reading Parish Records

Written dates

In Scandinavian countries the notation 10/11/12

always means day/month/year
Months are the same as we use, but sometimes
written in Latin

Weekdays are rarely mentioned

Julian/Gregorian calender change in 1753

Issues reading Parish Records

Handwriting

Most early scribes used Gothic type script

Note these
unfamiliar
letters

Issues reading Parish Records

Handwriting

Most early scribes used Gothic type script

Swedish, Norwegian, Danish have extra
letters:

Issues reading Parish Records

Handwriting

Most early scribes used Gothic type script

Swedish, Norwegian, Danish have extra
letters:
Handwriting can range between

the good

Entries are
distinct and
separated,
names are
underlined,
penmanship
is legible.

Issues reading Parish Records

Handwriting

Most early scribes used Gothic type script

Swedish, Norwegian, Danish have extra
letters:
Handwriting can range between

the good

the bad

In addition to sloppy handwriting, the ink from the other side has bled through

Issues reading Parish Records

Handwriting

Most early scribes used Gothic type script

Swedish, Norwegian, Danish have extra
letters:
Handwriting can range between

the good
the bad

and the ugly

Text that looks like chicken scratches!

What about prior to 1650?

There are useful secular documents:

Military muster rolls

What about prior to 1660?

There are useful secular documents:

Military muster rolls

Court records

What about prior to 1660?

There are useful secular documents:

Military muster rolls

Court records

Tax records/assessments

What about prior to 1660?

There are useful secular documents:

Military muster rolls

Court records

Tax records/assessments

Reading these secular records requires

familiarity with Gothic script, knowledge of
the underlying language, and
perseverance (so concentrate on parish
records in the meantime)

Useful URLs: Sweden

(which change often, use Google in case of broken links)

The best site for scanned records (subscription, but

free at LDS Family History Centers)
http://www.arkivdigital.net

Parish maps for each Swedish province (the maps

are free; search requires subscription)

http://sok.riksarkivet.se/folkrakningar?infosida=kartor-1890

Genealogy Word List

familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Swedish_Genealogical_Word_List

Useful URLs: Finland

(which change often, use Google in case of broken links)

Finland's Family History Association (free digital

scans but subscription needed for searches)

http://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/index_eng.htm

The Hiski Project (free searchable database)

http://hiski.genealogia.fi/historia/indexe.htm

Genealogy Word List (Finnish has almost no

relationship to English)
familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Finnish_Genealogical_Word_List

Useful URLs: Norway

(which change often, use Google in case of broken links)

Norwegian digital archives containing census, parish

records, and more (free!)

http://www.arkivverket.no/eng/Digitalarkivet

Some helpful hints for searching the archives

http://blog.kittycooper.com/2014/02/searching-the-norwegian-digital-a
rchives-a-rootstech-talk/

Genealogy word list

familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Norwegian_Word_List

A searchable database for pre-1875 emigrants

http://www.norwayheritage.com

Useful URLs: Denmark

(which change often, use Google in case of broken links)

Info about the Danish digital archives

http://www.sa.dk/content/us/genealogy/online_services

The actual archives (in Danish only, requires Java,

read previous link first, then choose Kirkebger)

http://www.sa.dk/content/dk/ao-forside

A searchable database for emigrants

http://www.emiarch.dk/home.php3

Genealogy word list

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Danish_Word_List

Useful URLs: General

Familysearch has some scanned parish records (requires LDS login):

choose Search and at the bottom of that page under Browse All Published
Collections select Continental Europe, then choose a country

Useful URLs: General

Familysearch has some scanned parish records

(requires LDS login): choose Search and at the bottom
of that page under Browse by Location select
Continental Europe
Ancestry.com always has some uses (and is free at
Family History Centers)
Video tutorials for deciphering Gothic script
https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/reading-scandinavian-gothic
-handwritten-records-lesson-1-scandinavian-gothic-letters/255

Credits & License

Content by Eric Freden

Parowan Family History Center
License: GPL-2+
OpenOffice.org template by Raphal Hertzog
http://raphaelhertzog.com/go/ooo-template
License: GPL-2+
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http://www.73lab.com
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