Norwegian Naming System
The family of Nils Kristoffersson and Hella Petersdotter provides a good example of how Norwegian families tended to choose names for their children throughout the generations. The tree below depicts their family structure.
GIVEN NAMES:
In Norwegian tradition the first male child born is named after the father`s father, or if it was a girl, then usually after the father`s mother. In this example Maren was born first (1827) and named after Nil`s mother, Marit Larsdotter. The name Maren is a side form of Marit. The next girl born should be named after her mother`s mother.
Next born was Kristoffer in 1830. He was named after his father's father, Kristoffer Kjetilsson. The next son born should be named after his mother`s father.
And so it was, as they had another son, 1833, who was named Peter, after Hella`s father, Peter Knutsson. But baby Peter died one year later.
Next born was Randi in 1835. Being the second girl born and living, she should be named after Hella`s mother, Randi Ingebrigtsdotter, and so she was.
Next was another boy, 1838, and he was named Peter also, since the first born Peter had died. But tragedy struck again as both Peter and his sister Randi died of smallpox in 1839, thus leaving no children named after Hella`s parents.
They were fortunate enough to have another daughter born in 1841, and it would be only natural that they named her Randi.
Nils Kristoffersson and Hella Petersdotter would only have one more child, a daughter, in 1842. They need not name her after her grandmothers, as she already had two living sisters before her who were. This baby was named Larine.
This example clearly shows how loyal Nils Kristoffersson and Hella Petersdotter were to their parents and what respect they must have had for them by making every attempt to carry on the names of their parents to the parents' grandchildren. It must have been devastating for them to lose three young children and also disappointing for the name of Peter not to be carried on.
SURNAMES:
In Norwegian tradition the surname of a child was the given name of the father. The surname was given a gender identity such that, in this example, sons of Nils have the surname of Nilsson and daughters of Nils have the surname of Nilsdotter.
In addition, we also find individuals that take on the name of the farm upon which they were born as a surname.
At some point (I believe it was late 1800s, early 1900s) a new law was passed that required a surname to be choosen and passed down amongst the following generations through the paternal line. At this point, individuals had the choice of having the given name of their father as their surname or of choosing the farm name as their surname.
Examples of choosing the father's name as a surname are those surnames with the suffix of "son". An example of choosing the farm name as a surname is the Gubberud ancestors.
DECEASED SPOUSE:
An exception to the system of determining given names as outlined earlier appears to have occurred when a spouse was widowed and then remarried. If the widow/widower had children with their new spouse, then quite often the firstborn child (if being the same sex as the deceased spouse), received the first name of the deceased spouse. An example of this is the family of Tolleiv Gulleiksson and Ragnhild Olsdotter. See diagram below.
Ragnhild Olsdotter married Torkild Kjetilsson -- Children: Ingeborg Torkildsdotter Ragnhild Olsdotter married Tolleiv Gulleiksson -- Children: Torkild Tolleivsson Ola Tolleivsson Hallvard Tolleivsson The firstborn son of Tolleiv Gulleiksson and Ragnhild Olsdotter would, under normal circumstances, have been named Gulleik (after Tolleiv`s father). But since Ragnhild lost her first husband, their first son born was named "Torkild", after the deceased Torkild Kjetilsson. The couple named their second son Gulleik, after Tolleiv`s father. But Gulleik died before 1801 and the next son born was Ola, and he was appropriately named after Ragnhild`s father.
Another example of a person being named after the deceased spouse, would be Kari Kristoffersdotter Bjørndalen. She was the first girl born to Kristoffer Kjetilsson Bjørndalen & Marit Larsdotter. While we have yet to determine Marit`s mother`s first name, it does appear that Kari was named after Kristoffer Kjetilsson Bjørndalen`s first wife, Kari Aslesdotter.
Kristoffer Kjetilsson Bjørndalen married Kari Aslesdotter -- Children: Kjetil Kristoffersson Asle Kristoffersson Helge Kristoffersson Nils Kristoffersson Kristoffer Kjetilsson Bjørndalen married Marit Larsdotter -- Children: Lars Kristoffersson Kari Kristoffersdotter Ingeborg Kristoffersdotter Nils Kristoffersson
Understanding the Norwegian naming system of our ancestors greatly enhances our ability to trace our Norwegian roots.
Source: Webmaster of vignesroots.com