Meaning of Surname?
Misanthropist84	Ok, I've been going absolutely crazy trying to figure out what my surname means in Norwegian. It's originally spelled "Sætre" in Norway, but when my grandpa came here to America they changed it to "Sather". I just found out actually, that these surnames actually have meaning and I was wondering if anyone could help me out? That would be great and I thank you for your help! -Andrea (If you need anymore information, I'd be more than happy to assist)
Borge	This is what O. Rygh have for one of the Sætre farms: Setr n., Bosted (Indl. S. 74). Nutidsformen er Dat. Ent., som ogsaa haves i Navnets ældste bevarede Form It will translate to something like "settlement" or "homestead"
Misanthropist84	Ok, thanks. Yeah, I decided to ask a cousin in Volda about it and this is what he said : " A Seter, Sæter, Sæther, etc. is a mountain summer pasture. Many farms had a seter associated with them. During the winter the cows, sheep, goats, etc. would be near the main farmstead, but once the weather got nice, the livestock and the milkmaids (or goatboys or whatever young people were put to the task) took the livestock to the higher country, where they could graze in the wild. It is still done this way in Norway today, bears taking a toll on the sheep, etc. There at the summer seter, cows would be milked, cheese made, and even the brown cheese cooked down to a thick consistency. This allowed the hay around the main house to grown and be harvested, dried on the drying fences and stored and saved for winter fodder. Sometimes a neighborhood shared a seter, or sometimes it was above a certain farm." I was also wondering, about how far back would I be able to trace my ancestry? I know I have enough information to get going, but I don't know where to start, or if the internet is the best place to do it.
jwiborg	Hi, the description you gave is how the name seter is understood today. The old book "Norwegian Farm Names" by Olaf Rygh gives a translation of almost all farm names in Norway, and what the name origianally ment. [url="http://www.dokpro.uio.no/rygh_ng/rygh_form.html"]O. Rygh: Norw. farm names[/url] The easiest way to start is by looking into the online norwegian censuses, from 1801, 1865 and 1900. They can be found [url="http://129.177.171.80/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar&spraak=e"]here[/url]. Jan
Borge	What Jan points out here is a very important thing to take to consideration regarding old names in Norway - they are actually very old some of them, and the original meaning is often different from what might fall natural to assume today. I am sure we could come up with quite a few examples on unexpected meaning of common Norwegian old names.