MEANING OF LAST NAMES

In our Swedish ancestry, most of our surnames are based on patronymics, using the first name of the father along with “son” or “dotter” to identify the gender of the child. Thus, Per Larsson would be the son of a man named Lars. Brita Nilsdotter would be the daughter of a man named Nils. This naming pattern helps tremendously when doing Swedish genealogy research because, based on the child’s name, we at least have the first name of the father.

But what about the less obvious Swedish surnames? Barquist, Lundblad, Rundquist, Kjallgren? Often these names were added to a soldier’s patronymic surname to distinguish him from all the other Lars Larssons or Olof Olofssons in his regiment. These surnames related to the location the soldier was from. The farm name, something about the terrain or natural surroundings.

Other non-standard Swedish surnames really came from the need or desire to change the surname to something that was unique, not to be confused with others who had the same name, whether in the military or not.

If we take the name Bergqvist (Barquist in the United States), it translates to Mountain + twig. The Bergqvist families were from Gavleborg County which was heavily wooded making the name related to their surroundings.

The name Lundblad means grove + leaf, again a surname related to their surroundings.

Rundquist means round + twig. It seems as if “round” might have to do with the land that was farmed or a pond on the property.

Kjallgren roughly translates to cold + branch, probably a reference to the winter surroundings.

The name Stråle in our ancestry translates to beam. Strom/Strum means flow. Fogelqvist means bird + twig. Hjelm means helmet. Tomt means plot.

The name LINN? It’s still something of a mystery. None of our 3 Linn brothers or their father were involved in the Swedish military. The name LINN seems to have come to our family when Johan Leonard Olausson (John Linn) came to the United States. There has been a misconception that names were changed at Ellis Island. It’s simply not true. Did some names change? Yes, but more likely because of a language barrier or misunderstanding the question being asked. In addition, these 3 Linn brothers never came through Ellis Island which became an immigration center in 1892, well after our Linns set foot on American soil.

Linn could have come from Johan’s (John’s) middle name Leonard.

Johan’s first wife Brita Eriksdotter came from the farm Linneberg.

Whatever the reason, those of us born “Linn” are really an “Olausson”.

Many cultures have naming patterns. Once you understand what the Scottish did in naming their sons and daughters, you can more easily follow the genealogy trail. African and Asian countries have their own unique naming patterns.

In Sweden, the use of patronymic names started to dwindle in the late 1800’s, and today, one sees a last name that is passed on to children just as we have in the United States today.

THE BEGINNING OF 2023

 Happy New Year, Friends and Family!  With a redundant "new beginnings," it's time to see what else can be uncovered about our mutual ancestors. I often receive questions about the WHY. Why did our family leave? Why did they come to the United States? And why did they settle where they did?

Rarely do we have diaries and letters and newspapers to give us all the answers. But we can piece together some logical reasons for our ancestors' moves. 

As we have discussed in prior posts, often religious freedoms, forced conscription, inability to purchase land had a great deal to do with PUSHING our ancestors out of their home country. The PULL to the United States and to a specific area often had to do with being able to purchase cheap land, religious freedom, and the ability to settle in communities made up of other ethnic friends and relatives who had paved the way and had written to their homeland about this beautiful new land. Below are just a few of our Swedish ancestors and their likely reason for settling where they did.

Who or What was Waiting for our Ancestors when they came to the Midwest?

Why did Olof Olsson and Kerstin Larsdotter settle initially in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin?

An early settler to Wisconsin, Gustaf Unonious, came to the US in 1841, arriving with a small Swedish group in NY, and making their way west, much as John Linn had in 1848. But instead of staying onboard to Iowa, the group, headed by Unonious, disembarked in Milwaukee. The group settled near Pine Lake, and, through great hardships, created a place called New Uppsala. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Upsala,_Wisconsin) Unonious was called to become a minister, and, in 1845 was sent to Manitowoc to take over a congregation there. With glowing letters being sent to Sweden, often published in newspapers, it is likely that Olof Olsson and Kerstin Larsdotter learned of Manitowoc and the growing Swedish population there and decided to make their way to Wisconsin in 1850 where land was plentiful.

Why did Erick Lundgren come to Iowa?

Erick was born in Amots Bruk in Gavleborg County on 18 June 1818. He married Elizabeth Olsdotter and, together with their son Olof, came to the United States in 1869, settling in Swede Bend. By 1869, the pull for Swedes to come to America was strong; yet, it would still be difficult to learn a new language and to buy farm land without knowing others. Who else in our family was from Amot? The Barquists.  John Barquist, Sr., his wife Marget, and 6 children lived in the Swede Bend area and had been in Iowa since 1857, making them the ideal friends for the Lundgrens to settle nearby.

 

Why did Anders Lundblad come to Iowa?

In this case, Anders’ immigration to Iowa is related directly to the arrival of his sister Katrina Lundblad and her husband Gustus Linn in 1852. Anders, his wife Maria, and 6 children made the long trip to the United States and to the Pilot Mound area in 1857 where they found Katarina and Gus, willing to house them and help them settle.

 

Why did Gustaf Challgren come to Iowa?

Starting in the mid-1800s, groups of Swedes traveled across the ocean to New York and made the very long trek to the Midwest. In Illinois, religious groups such as the Swedish Jansonites settled in Bishop Hill and Gevle, Illinois; others moved along to Iowa and Minnesota. Gustaf Kjellstrom/Challgren stopped in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois, in 1868, not far from the Bishop Hill cult settlement. Ingrid, however, came much later, in 1873, settling also in Princeton. Gustaf and Ingrid married in 1874. While I’m unsure if they had any affiliation with the Jansonites, no doubt life would have been easier with other Swedes to guide them. Five children were born to this couple in Illinois before they moved farther West to the Gowrie, Webster County, area, where there was a large Swedish group of settlers, land was plentiful, and where they had 2 more children.

 

I hope that you will continue to read this blog and that you will send questions you have about our Swedish ancestors. If I don't have an answer, I'll be researching to find one!