Scandinavian Family Name Etymology

Scandinavian Family Name Etymology

Heritable family names were generally adopted rather late within Scandinavia. Nobility were the first to take names that would be passed on from one generation to the next. Later, clergy, artisans and merchants in cities took heritable names. Family names (surnames) were still used together with primary patronyms (father's name plus an affix denoting relationship), which were used by all social classes. This meant that most families until modern times did not have surnames. Scandinavian patronyms were generally derived from the father's given name with the addition of a suffix meaning 'son' or 'daughter'. This naming tradition remained commonly used throughout the Scandinavian countries during the time of surname formation. Forms of the patronymic suffixes include: -son, -sen, -sson, -zen, -zon/zoon, and -ssen.