Scanian Surnames

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This page is still in creation. It was created by Maor.malul at May 13 2024.

Scania: A DefinitionScania: A Definition

Map of Skåne, Sweden

Scania is the historical name for the southernmost province at the peninsular tip of Sweden. Settled across a narrow channel from neighboring Denmark, Scania is in the strait of Kattegat which connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea. Scania was a resource rich and strategically located territory fought over by Sweden, Denmark and Norway throughout history. Scania is also known as Skåne in Swedish, as well as other Gothic - Germanic languages of East and Northern Germanic tribes. The Latin form of Skåne is Scania, originating from the Roman tribes' expansion of the Roman Empire, who mistook Scania for an island calling it "Great Island" or Scandza. Today the region is called Skåne County, with its capital in Malmö; the county was created in 1997 to maintain the origin of Skåne’s history and its uniqueness from mainland Sweden. The word “Scania” contributed to the identifier for Sweden, Denmark and Norway with the modern term “Scandinavia.”

HistoryHistory

Flag of historical provinces of Skåne

The term Scandza first appeared in Getica by 6th century Byzantine historian, Jordanes. Jordanes documented the origin and nomadic journey of Goth tribes, drawing from the history written by 4th century Roman senator, Cassiodorus. Cassiodorus served as a statesman and scribe for Theodoric the Great, king of the Goths. The Goth tribes emigrated from Skåne across the Baltic Sea in three ships, predominantly to Northern Germany, journeying eventually south east to Scythia in modern-day Kazakhstan. This swath of territory became known as Gothiscandza, as its tribes originated in the Scanian region of southern Sweden, Denmark and southern Norway. The gothic migration took place under King Berig, the first century king of the Goths.  

Denmark was once a central province of Scania until Sweden defeated the Danish in war, resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The territory exchanged hands repeatedly for centuries, ultimately resulting in Sweden securing sole governance of Scania through the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660.

Patronymic SurnamesPatronymic Surnames

While Scania evolved through history in close proximity to Norway, Denmark and Sweden proper, as well as through intermingling with Roman imperials, the surnames of its inhabitants developed with mixed inspirations ranging including familial, occupational, mythological and otherwise topical. The bulk of Scandinavian and Scanian surnames have a patronymic history, a naming convention of borrowing the father's first name as the prefix of the child’s surname.

Skåne

The suffix of a Swedish surname would identify the gender of the child, with -son referencing the son of the father and -dóttir referencing the daughter of the father. For example, the son of Erik would use the surname, Eriksson and the daughter of Erik would use the surname, Eriksdóttir. Danish and Norwegian spellings could use the suffix -sson or the surname could be spelled with a suffix of -sen to identify male progeny. As a result of gender segmentation in patronymic naming conventions, siblings would not share an exact surname, unless they were the same gender. Each subsequent generation would have their own surname, borrowing the first name from the father and on rare occasion, the mother, if the father was not known or the mother was unwed.

Having common surnames based on very common first names grew to be confusing for many families in Sweden and Scania. A family would occasionally opt for a surname based on a location or occupation to help delineate their family from another. Some families chose to maintain a common patronymic surname and would not change names in the subsequent generation; this was referred to as a frozen patronym. The frozen patronymic was then registered with the local government to identify themselves as using a set surname. Registration began in the 19th century, becoming more common and leading way to the Names Adoption Act of Sweden in 1901.  The Names Adoption Act required individuals to adopt surnames that could be inherited and could not change generationally.

Some families adopted their current generation’s patronymic surname, defaulting to the male form of the name. While some Scanian families took the opportunity to create a new name for themselves based on urbanization and modernity following the Industrial Revolution. For example, the name Möller is more popular in Scania than in northern parts of Sweden, as the name comes from the occupation of miller or mill worker. It also borrows the Danish spelling of miller (Møller) owing to the close proximity to Denmark. Surnames that appear less often in Scania are those associated with nature, like Blom or Eklund (meaning flower / bloom or oak grove respectively) which appeared in more rural areas of mainland Sweden.

Popular Scanian SurnamesPopular Scanian Surnames

The ten most common surnames in Skåne are:

1. Nilsson
2. Andersson
3. Persson
4. Olsson
5. Johansson
6. Svensson
7. Jönsson
8. Larsson
9. Karlsson
10. Hansson

Celebrities with Scanian SurnameCelebrities with Scanian Surname

Scarlett Johansson

• Poul Anderson, American Writer

• Per Albin Hansson, Swedish Prime Minister
• Scarlett Johansson, American Actress
• Eric Johnsson, Swedish Chess Player
• Erik Karlsson, Swedish Hockey Player
• Stieg Larsson, Swedish Writer
• Brigit Nilsson, Swedish Soprano
• Åke Olsson, Swedish Football Player
• Halvor Persson, Norwegian Skier
• Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish Musician

Explore more about ethnicity estimatesExplore more about ethnicity estimates

• MyHeritage DNA at MyHeritage
• Ethnicities around the world at MyHeritage
• What Is My Ethnicity? How MyHeritage Estimates Ethnicities at MyHeritage Knowledge Base
• Where's My Ethnicity?!: Why An Ethnicity Might Not Show Up In Your DNA (and How To Find Evidence Of It Anyway) at MyHeritage Knowledge Base

References

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