Hi all,
I have recently found my Swedish great-grandmother after many years of searching but, as usual, it raises more questions. I'm familiar with the patronymic surname system, having traced both Dutch and Welsh family lines, but this family confuses me a little because I don't know much about Swedish naming traditions.
1. Maja Lisa Danielsdotter was born in 1833, daughter of Daniel Jonnson Spets and his wife Elin Jonsdotter. Daniel's father was Jon Persson, so Jonsson makes sense, but where would the 'Spets' part of his name come from?
Maja Lisa Danielsdotter had four known children but the father's name is not on any of the birth registrations - all have "oäkta" after their given names, which apparently means spurious, fake or bastard. The first of these children was fostered to Maja Lisa's sister and took the surname of that sister's husband, Borgstrom.
2. The last of Maja Lisa's children was my great-grandmother Emma (1869-1907). I have records for her in Germany, where she married and had children, and England, where she had children and died. All these records have her as Emma Johnsdotter or some version of it. Does this mean that her unnamed father could be John or Johan? Or is there a naming system that carries the Jons- part of her name from Maja Lisa's parents, who both had it in their names?
3. My last question relates to Maja Lisa's other two children: twin boys born in January 1865 and only lived a day. Like the others, they have no surname and no father's name. They were Frans and Victor - what surname should I give them in my FTM file? Would it be a version of Danielsdotter? It doesn't feel right to record them with just a given name.
Thank you, people of great and wondrous knowledge!
Eve