Scandinavian
Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
My Heritage contains millions of records from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland
Denmark
Boundaries and Territory
Denmark emerged as a unified country in the 10th century. It survived as a monarchy until 1849, when it became a constitutional monarchy. The main body of Denmark is comprised of a large peninsula and 443 islands and is divided into 5 Regions (regioner) and further divided into Municipalities (kummuner)
Denmark consolidated its original 50 counties into 23 in 1793 and realined them again in 1970. The counties were replaced by 5 regions in 2007
The FamilySearch Wiki has a useful site containing a Denmark Parish List
Immigration
The Copenhagen police recorded everyone emigrating from Denmark from 1868-1940. Information included: name, last residents, age, year of emigration and initial destination abroad
If your Danish ancestors lived in Jutland or in Schleswig-Holstein, they may have immigrated through Hamburg. You can visit the Family Search Wiki for Hamburg Passenger Lists for more information
Danish Emigrant Archives is searchable by name, occupation, age, last residene, parish, county, destination, ticket number, or date of registration
Church Records
Denmakr has adopted Lutheranism as its official state religion
Until almost the 20th century, the Church kept all Danish vital records. FamilySearch has digitized and indexed many of these records
- Denmark Church Records, 1484-1941
- Denmark Baptisms, 1618-1923
- Denmark Marriages, 1635-1916
- Denmark Burials, 1640-1917
Lutheran ministers detailed their lives in church records called Kirkebøger
Naming Conventions
Until 1904 when a law was passesd requiring permanent surnames, surnames generally changed from generation to generation
Women generally did not change their names at marriage
Children’ would take their father’s name with “sen” added for a son and “datter” added for a daugher
- i.e. Han Pedersen’s son would take the last name of “Hansen”
- i.e. Han Pedersen’s daughter would take the last name of “Hansdatter
- i.e. In this example, Han’s father’s first name would have been Peder
The first boy was generally name for the father’s father. The second boy was usually named for the mother’s father. Subsequent boys were often named for the father and then for the parent’s brothers
The first girl was generally named for the mother’s mother. The second girl was usually named for the father’s mother
If a spouse died and the other remaried. The second couple generally named the first child after the deceased spouse of the same sex
Misc.
Danish citizenship was not a birthright. Instead, cities would confer citizenship upon individuals. Citizenship allwoed individuals to reside and do business in that city
Useful Websites
- 1835 Denmark Census – Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein
- Danish Demographic Database – contains census records
- Danish Handwriting
- Danish State Archives – contains Church Records
- Danish Naming Conventions
- Digital Danish Archives contains the names of emigrants from Denmark between 1868 through 1908
- A Danish Word List can be found online at Family Search which contains terms that you will likely encounter in Danish records
- FamilSearch Wiki for Denmark Genealogy
- Kobenhavns Stadsarkiv (Copenhagen City Archives)
- Museum of Danish America: Genealogy Society
- Samfundet for Dansk Genealogi og Personalhistorie (The Society for Danish Genealogy and Personal History)
Finland
Boundaries and Territory
From medieval times through 1809 Finland was under Swedish rule
From 1809 to 1917 the territory was an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire
From 1918 to the present the territory is the Republic of Finland
Immigration
Large number of Finland emigrants to U.S. from 1890-1914
Finish ancestors may have migrated through the following ports: Goteborg, Malmo, Stockholm and Trondheim
Miscellaneous
Most official records before 1863 are in Swedish
Until the late 19th century, surnames changed with each generation
Most important records are those kept by the state Lutheran Church beginning in 1686
Finland began keeping a census, called henkikirjat, in 1634
Useful Websites
- DIGI: National Library’s Digital Collections – newspaper collection
- Finland Family Historical Association
- Genealogical Society of Finland
- $ Institute of Migration contains passenger and passport records
Norway
Boundaries and Territory
During 1524 to 1814 Norway was part of Denmark
From 1814 to 1905 the territory was the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
In 1905 the territory became the Kingdom of Norway – independent constitutional monarchy
Miscellaneous
Records may be in Danish, Swedish or Latin
Four major waves of emigration from Norway: 1866-1873, 1880-1893, 1900-1914, 1920-1929
Police in major coastal towns kept records of emigrants between 1867-1930
When Norwegians began adopting permanent surnames, many used the name of their town or farm
Useful Websitees
- Norway Digital Archives
- Church records often reference dates in terms of feast days. NDA has a calendar that can help you translate dates
- Norway Heritage contains a wealth of emigration information
- Norwegian Portal for Digitized Newspapers
- Genealogical Society of Norway Note, only part of the website is in English
- Sons of Norway
Sweden
Boundaries and Territory
From the Medieval Times to the 17th Century Sweden was a unified country
During the 17th Century the country includes Finland and portions of Russia, Poland and Lithuania
During the 18th Century Sweden lost most of its non-Scandinavia territories (including Finland)
Misc.
In Sweden, it is not uncommon to call a person by an affectionate form of the given name. Most names also have variant spellings
Children often took their father’s first name, plus a possessive s and -son or -dotter as their last names
- For example:
- 1st gen: Anders Svensson
- 2nd gen: Sven Andersson
- 3rd gen: Anders Svensson
- The following pattern was often used in naming children:
- The first son was named after the father’s father
- The first daughter was named after the mother’s mother
- The second son was named after the mother’s father
- The third son was named after the father, and
- The fourth son was named after the father’s eldest brother
Useful Websites
- $ ArkivDigital is a subscription site, but contains over 50 million Swedish records
- $ MyHeritage
- National Archives Digital Collection
- Contains church records (birth, marriage and death)
- National Library of Sweden
- Sweden Household Examination Books, 1860-1930