What about changing ll to tt and you'll get Ottosson. A rather more common patronymic name based on given name Otto. Olle is a short or nickname for Olov. Like in english: Charles -> Charlie, Richard -> Rich. Robert -> Bob For Olov the patronymic Olsson, is much more common. Common Uncommon (most of them don't even exist) _______________________________ Otto Ottosson Olov Olovsson/Olsson Olle Ollesson Lars Larsson Lasse Lassesson Hans Hansson Hasse Hassesson Karl Karlsson Kalle Kallesson Knut Knutsson Knutte Knuttesson This is of course not a mishearing but misread/write. But that goes for the Olle theory too. The pronounciation of o and e are distinct in both languages. The nearest "Ollo" sounding name I can think of is Olovsson/Olofsson. Especially if it's said in some dialect from the southern provinces of Sweden like Småland. /Göran "Exile" <exiled@NOSPAMnorfolk.to> skrev i meddelandet news:nm9n5tolt8ulebtb8cnaqghqerk0drjpde@4ax.com... > On Tue, 09 Jan 2001 15:15:37 -0800, Robert Heiling <rheil@qwest.net> > muttered something to the effect of: > > > >You may be off by only one letter. The Swedish given-name Olle (name day > >in Sweden July 29th) would form the patronymic of Ollesson. It's easy to > >see how an e could change to an o if poorly written or misunderstood. > > > >Bob > > > > > thanks very much, much appreciated > Marc > > exile