SWEDISH GENEALOGY
In many ways, family history in Sweden is easy. All Swedish residents were listed in Household records. In them are usually notes about moves, births, deaths, and other events. The earliest you will find start in the 17th century. So you can learn a lot about your Swedish family. At least as long
A lot has changed since 1850 The Swedish emigration started 170 years ago. A lot has changed in the world since 1850. Sweden may be one of the countries that have changed the most. When you think about Sweden today, it’s not obvious what life was like for our ancestors. Many things are
Medieval roots Glad midsommar! Midsummer in Sweden is an old tradition. Swedes often joke about it being our unofficial national day. Midsummer was first documented in Sweden in the year 1555. At the time it was celebrated with dancing in the light of bonfires in the fields or in the town
Maybe you have seen the word torp, croft, in your Swedish genealogy. An ancestor may have been a crofter, torpare. Or your ancestor was a soldier and lived at a soldier’s croft, soldattorp. But what is a Swedish croft? The modern Swedish Croft is an old cottage Today the word croft makes
Your family has probably told you a few things about your Swedish ancestor. Did they say she came from Storegården, Äspered Parish, Älvsborg County? I would guess not. (If she did, please say hi!) Chances are that the name you have for your ancestor’s home in Sweden needs to be interpreted in some
Lucia in memory of saint Lucy Swedes celebrate Luciadagen, St Lucy's Day, on 13 December. You have probably heard of it before, but what is it? It is an event in memory of the catholic saint Lucy, Lucia. Originally, St Lucy's Day fell on winter solstice. This was when Sweden followed the
Don't count on a white Christmas in Sweden Did you know that only 15% of Swedes can count on a white Christmas? I grew up with the risk of snow between October and May, so this was a surprise to me. My childhood winters in central Sweden looked like in the photo above from Uppland in 1908.
In our times, when Sweden has been among the top in various global rankings for half a century, it may seem odd that so many Swedes emigrated to America in the 19th century. For instance, in 2017 Sweden was number 8 on the OECD Better Life Index, while the US was number 10 [1]. Why would
Have you, like so many other descendants of Swedes, asked online about your Andersson line? And crickets. Perhaps someone replied that Andersson used to be a common last name, but that doesn’t really help, does it? Here I will show you why that is. And best of all, how to get around it. Why
