Family Name
The spelling of the name Gyllenhaal caused problems right from the beginning. Its origin is clear: Nils Gunnarsson Gyllenhaal's father was Gunne Olofsson Haal from Hahlegården, a crown homestead in South Härene Parish in the county of Västergötland in West Sweden. "Haal" comes from the name of the farm "Hahlegården", with different spelling. This confusion was mirrored in Nils' ennoblement: In the Knighthood Letter, signed by Queen Christina, the family name was written in two different ways — first "Gyllenhahl" and then "Gyllenhaal". On the copperplate with his coat of arms now hanging in the House of Nobles (Riddarhuset) in Stockholm it is spelled "Gyllenhahl". The prefix "Gyllen", i.e. "Golden", was the one most used when ennobling someone since the 16th century.
Jake Gyllenhaal, great-great grandson of the above-mentioned Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, joked to an interviewer, in connection with the British première of the movie Prince of Persia in May 2010, that his last name was pronounced "Yil-en-hoo-luh-hay", poking fun at people's difficulties with Swedish pronunciation.
Read more about this topic: Gyllenhaal Family
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“I acknowledge that the balance I have achieved between work and family roles comes at a cost, and every day I must weigh whether I live with that cost happily or guiltily, or whether some other lifestyle entails trade-offs I might accept more readily. It is always my choice: to change what I cannot tolerate, or tolerate what I cannot—or will not—change.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“The intent of matrimony, is not for man and wife to be always taken up with each other, but jointly to discharge the duties of civil society, to govern their family with prudence, and educate their children with discretion.”
—Anonymous, U.S. women’s magazine contributor. Weekly Visitor or Ladies Miscellany (June 1807)