Danish genealogy involves tracing one’s ancestors living in the region of Denmark. Denmark boasts a rich offering of historical records, such as census records, that can aid a genealogist researching Danish heritage.
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A brief geo-political history of Denmark

Denmark forms part of modern-day Scandinavia, along with Sweden and Norway. It's a small geographical area with a population of 5.8 million; however, between 1524-1814, it existed as the twin realm of Denmark and Norway.
This only changed in 1814 after Denmark became aligned with Napoleon and lost the war of the 6th coalition. Denmark was given to Sweden as part of the settlement, with the remaining land being changed to a constitutional government in 1849.
Other important dates in the history of Denmark include the 1st Schleswig War 1848-1852 (won by Denmark) and the 2nd Schleswig War (lost by Denmark), which lasted just eight months that spanned from February to October 1864.
Denmark declared itself neutral during WWI and WWII. Despite this, the country was occupied by Germany in 1940 before being liberated by the British in 1945.
Researching Danish names

See also: Danish surnames
One challenge faced by people looking for Danish ancestors is that until 1901, when the Names Adoption Act was passed, the Danish people used a patronymic system of surnames. With this system, each person takes a surname derived from the first name of the father.
In addition to the problem of lack of standardized spelling (e.g. Jakob Bastian, Jacob Bastien), sons and daughters often had different surnames. For example, if Jacob Bastien had a son and a daughter, their patronymic would be derived from his first name but with differently gendered suffixes. His son may have been called Peder Jacobsen, whereas his daughter could have been named Ana Jacobsdatter.
Another aspect that needs to be considered when looking through census and church records are Danish names that have become anglicised. Wilhelm, for instance, could turn into William, something caused by many Danes moving to Canada and the US.
Other popular Danish naming patterns for first names include:
- First daughters named after the paternal grandmother
- Second daughters named after maternal grandmother
- First son named after paternal grandfather
- Second son named after paternal grandmother
Some parents would also choose to name children after their own parents, although it was customary not to use the name of someone living. Some other practices included the following:
- When a person’s spouse died and remarried, it was customary to name the first child of the new marriage after the deceased.
- If the wife’s parents were deceased and the couple was living on the wife’s parent’s farm, her parents may have priority in naming.
- If an older sibling died, babies would often be given the same name, meaning two or more children could have the same name.
- Usually, the child would be named after someone of the same gender, but not always.
This remained the case until the period of 1880-1920 when it became fashionable to give children several given names - sometimes up to as many as four or five.[1]
There were, in fact, relatively few given names in circulation in Denmark, with just 40-50 used on a widespread basis. With the legacy of patronymics still being felt, it would be possible for every member of the same family to have completely different surnames.
Danish census records

The records available can be grouped into three distinct tiers:
- Tier 1: Census and Church records
- Tier 2: Emigration, Probate, and Military records
- Tier 3: Other resources such as newspapers and telephone books.
Census data from the earlier period (1787-1840) includes limited information about the name and age of a person, as well as their profession and position in the household.
Usually carried out in February, when the population would be more static, the census data became more detailed as the years passed. By 1906, it included additional information, such as disability and last residence data.
Knowing the parish name or the name of the town and street can be very helpful when researching Danish census records. Being able to name one or two additional people in the household can also be helpful.
Danish handwriting
The Danish language includes letters that are not part of the standard Roman alphabet, including:
- Æ
- Ø
- Å
These letters would also be represented differently in Danish cursive handwriting of the time, as an Ø may be written as an ö or the letter u could have an umlaut above it, simply to distinguish it from the letter i.
Dates were often written to look like fractions, e.g. ⅙ would refer to the 1st of June.
Other factors to consider when researching Danish genealogy
Something else to note is the fact that as recently as 1984, 92% of Danes belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. Lutheran priests did an incredible job for the crown in keeping parish records, which at the time were segmented for boys and girls.
Feast dates were used on records in Denmark at the time rather than Gregorian calendar dates. This is something that can make it difficult to find the person you're looking for in Danish church records, but knowing the father’s name can help, as his listing will provide an overview of all the children he sired.
Explore more about Danish genealogy
- Danish census records 1787-1940 at MyHeritage
- Denmark Church records 1576-1919 at MyHeritage
- Denmark Baptism records 1618-1923 at MyHeritage
- Danish Research with Online Records at MyHeritage and Beyond by Mike Mansfield at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
References
This article was adapted from Danish Research with Online Records at MyHeritage and Beyond, a webinar presented by Mike Mansfield on Aug 9, 2022. Watch the full webinar on Legacy Family Tree Webinars.