I am trying to find information on John Johnson b. Sweden Nov. 13, 1848. He came to USA and was married to Ellen Obermire Oct. 02, 1875 in Iowa. He died Nov. 17, 1917 in Iowa. His parents were listed as Charles & Mary Oake Johnson. Someone suggested that perhaps the names were Americanized. In talking with family members someone mentioned that his name was Johnny Johnanson (I do not know the correct spelling of the last name). If the names were Americanized what would they be in Swedish? Any suggestion or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Martha Johnson
Hi Martha It's hard to tell what the names would be in Swedish but since the Swedish had a Patronymic nameing system, if John's father was named Charles, his name would have been John Charleson or if John's last name was Johnson his father would have had the first name of John or Johan. See the link below, "Those Norwegian names". Check out this Swedish site http://www.genealogi.se/roots/ Also Charles is not a common Swedish name. This doesn't mean that wasn't their names but that they didn't fit with the normal naming practices. Here is another site with Swedish links. http://www.genealogyspot.com/country/sweden.htm Also if you can find him on the 1900 or 1910 census you should be able to find when he came to America and that would narrow down the search for him on passenger lists which could tell you where he came from. Good Luck Carla
I'd say that Karl (or Carl) & Maria Johanson or Jonson (Johansson or Jonsson)would be their Swedish names. Scandinavian first generation emigrants often made their father's patronym into a surname. Specially those who emigrated at the same time as their parents. In Sweden the patronym system was abandoned earlier than in Norway, where we find it as late as the 1900-census.
JOHN JOHNSON
Posted - 17/08/2002 : 18:23:20
