Re: When/Why PeterSON vs PeterSEN
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In reply to:
When/Why PeterSON vs PeterSEN
4/13/99
Common to all Scandinavian countries and important in genealogical research is the use of patronymics, a naming system which identifies the child as the son or daughter of a certain man. For example, a son of a man named Peter would have the surname Petersson (Swedish) or Peterssen (Danish and Norwegian). Peter's daughter would have the surname Petersdotter (Swedish) or Petersdatter (Danish and Norwegian). Women in Scandinavia kept their maiden names after they married, a custom which was practiced until around 1900.
In the Scandinavian countries the patronymic system prevailed until about 1875 when the children in a family started taking their father's surname. (Iceland still uses the patronymic system, and women still keep their maiden names.)