Since there are more than 2,500 parishes in Sweden, some with duplicate names, it is also important to know the name of the county (län) in which a particular parish is located. For example, the countries of Halland, Kronoberg, Västmanland, Västra Götaland and Östergötland each have a parish named Torpa.
Another important thing to ascertain is the original Swedish name of an ancestor in question, that is, how a particular individual's name was registered in the Swedish records. Many Swedes changed their names upon arrival in the United States, whether for the sake of convenience of spelling, the desire to anglicize their names, or the need to drop Swedish names that in English had a peculiar sound or a derogatory meaning. Included in this latter category would be such names asHellberg, Hellqvist, Högberg, Högström and Röt. Thousands of Swedes changed their names as easily as they changed their shirts. There are a great many examples, including the following: Persson was changed to Perkins,Olsson to Oliver or Wilson, Sjöstrand to Seashore, Berg to Berry or Barry, Löf to Leaf,Björkegran to Burke, Löfgren to Lovegreen, Stadig to Sturdy, Sköld to Shold andStålhammar to Steele. Patronymics like Johnsson, Jansson, Jeansson, Jonasson,Johansson, Johanesson and Jonsson all fused into the form of Johnson. If the Swedish ancestor was a woman who married in the United States or Canada, it is important to know her maiden name as originally recorded in Sweden. Many female immigrants of the last century used the older patronymic that ended in -dotter, as for example Andersdotter, Persdotter, Jansdotter, Karlsdotter and Samuelsdotter, indicating that they were daughters of Anders, Per, Jan, Karl or Samuel, respectively. Often these women changed their names to the easier -son form. - Flyttningsbetyg This is the official exit permit issued by the pastor of the parish in Sweden from which the immigrant came. It is an important document, since technically Swedes could not leave their home parish without this permit. It provides a person's full name, date of birth, place of birth, character reference and knowledge of the Catechism and the Bible. It probably also gives the name of the parish to which an individual moved or, if an emigrant came directly to North America, the destination is given merely as Norra Amerika, since many did not know precisely where they were going. This type of document is extremely useful in providing the pertinent information from which to proceed directly to Swedish records. Unfortunately, many of these documents have been lost through the years, particularly at times of settling estates, when the documents, written in Swedish, often were destroyed. Tracing Your Swedish Ancestry
A Guide To Researching Swedish Roots in America, Canada and Sweden By James E. Erickson and Nils William Olsson |