just saying hello :)
rakel	Hey kids, I'm new around here. I'm kind of interested in my heritage... my dad tells me I'm a large portion of norwegian... considering my surname is Hjelmeseth, which can be spelt Hjelmeset and a couple other crazy ways. It's a farm somewhere around there... (I'm actually going to go there in a few weeks. Exciting, isn't it?)... my first name is Rakel, which isn't very common in the states, but I guess it's pretty popular in norway. Welp... I'm not sure how often I'll chill here, or the average age of people around here... but I'm sixteen. Yeah... I hope you people aren't stalkers or whatever. heh. peace~ ~rak
thelebrity	hehe! You're almost too good to be true. Hjelmeset is also the name of one of the best cross country skiers in Norway. Maybe you origin from the same farm. Rakel isn't very common in Norway though. But who cares. Nice name. Anyway, welcome to Norway. Peace Per Helge (very common in Norway) PS I'd love to hear you pronounce Hjelmeseth. DS Per Helge Seglsten
askeroi	Rakel is, as Per Helge sais, not a common norwegian name. It's a jewish name found in the bible, originally, as far as I know. But of course lot of norwegian parents are inspired by that source and have given their children such names. askeroi
rakel	Oy, my dad says Rakel was pretty common.. I know it's the "norwegian form of Rachel" which is a Hebrew name... but well, there's more people named Rakel in Norway/Europe than the US. *shrug* I pronouce Hjelmeseth like Yell-mah-set. What's funny is seeing everyone else here in the US try to pronounce it. They don't know that the H's are silent and the j turns to a Y. I'm pretty sure this is the correct pununciation because I used to live in Germany when I was little, and we traveled around, and my dad would pay attention to how people said our names. He actually found out how his name is REALLY supposed to be said. I'd tell you what it is, but as a safety precaution I won't :) I am aware that there is a skier with the name Hjelmeset (I was looking up my last name on the internet once), I told my dad about it and he said he didn't know if he was or not. My dad has done some crazy things, like calling people who have our last name to ask questions about their family history *g* (I think he's crazy) ~rak
Borge	Hi Rakel According to the O. Rygh database the original writing of the name was "Hjalmaland"; with the prefix "hjalmr", or Hjelm (which today has the meaning of a "helmet"). When used in a farm name it is descriptive of the landscape where the farm was situated. In this case on a height formed as a helmet. Børge Solem
rakel	haha. I feel kind of silly for bringing this up after two years have passed, but I totally forgot about this place. Odd-Bjorn and I do come from the same farm (which, is, in fact, on a fjord that is shaped as a helmet), however, for any family ties you'd probably have to go back about 16 or more generations. Previously in this thread I alluded to a trip to Norway that I was going on. Well, we went and all of that, I got to see the farm again. It was actually my second time, however, the first time I went I was only a little toddler, so fat chance I'd remember that. We stayed at this hotel/motel in Sandana (sp?) which is not too far from the Hjelmeset farm. I got a seperate room from my dad and brother, who apparently had Odd-Bjorn's bridal sweet only a week previous to our being there. That was a little odd, but interesting nonetheless. PS: Norway was absolutely breath taking. I enjoyed my visit emmensly and hope to grace the country with my presence once more ;)
rakel	Oh, also, I was named after my great grandmother. When we went to norway I visited someone who also had the name Rakel (we were distant relatives, actually, I think, hmm...) and it was so weird to hear someone else say "Rakel" and not be refering to me. I think when I get married and all that, I want to carry on some of my heritage in the names of my kids. :)