Journeys Through Europe and North America
Anderson and Nielsen - two of the most common Scandinavian surnames. Although our family names are of Scandinavian origins, our ancestors have travelled a great deal throughout the past couple of centuries. While some journeys were relatively short such as moves to neighbouring parishes and counties, others were huge undertakings across great oceans to foreign lands in hopes of a better life. As for our current surnames, they, of course, only reflect the ancestry of our paternal lineage through the past couple of centuries. Before that, surnames in Scandinavia changed with every generation according to the age-old patronymic naming traditions. Counting our paternal ancestors prior to the first half of the 18 hundreds, as well as our maternal ancestors, we end up with a long, long list of patronymic names and far fewer family names.
Our Family Names: Adams, Anderson, Beaumont, Blacktop, Bødker, Campbell, Gallaway / Galloway, Halling, Hilduinen, Holmsgård, Johnson, Koch / Kok, Kopstad, Lindstrom, Lampa, Liise / Lise, Listed, Macalester / McAlister, McKay, Nielsen, Paulle / Pawley / Paule, Pinkerton, Rasch, Story, Thron, Thrap / Trap / Trapp / Trappe / Trappis, Urfell, Weaver, Wilson
The Countries our Ancestors Called Home: Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, United States