Hei I'd like to double-check my understanding of Norwegian naming practices or be corrected. The following household is taken from the 1900 census, More Og Romsdal, Vestnes, and the farmname is EINEN. (please forgive my formatting) Name Family status Marital status Occupation Birth year Ole Einen hf g Husmand, forpakter m J 1844 Berte Einen hm g Husmandskone 1845 Peter Helland s ug Skomager 1877 Olufine Helland d ug Husligt arb., kreaturstel. 1881 Nils Helland s ug Arbeider i snedkerfabrik 1883 Marie Helland d ug Barn 1888 Julie Helland d ug Barn 1890 Hans Helland hf g Driver snedker- og dreierfabrik1869 Seriana Helland hm g Snedkerkone 1875 Olav Helland s ug Barn 1900 Questions: Ole & Berte have the surname Einen because that's the farm that they currently reside on? They changed their surname to Einen when they moved there from wherever they had been before? The children have the name Helland because that is the name of the farm that the family lived on when they were born? I note that there is/was a local parish farm by the name of Helland and wonder if that is likely the place that they previously resided? I see that Helland seems to be more of a place on the map now than a farm. For those who are familiar with the numerous errors in the US censuses of given & surname spelling errors, birthdate errors, placename errors, etc; would you say that the Norwegian censuses have far fewer errors? about the same number? more? Mvh Bob

Robert Heiling wrote: > Hei > > I'd like to double-check my understanding of Norwegian naming practices > or be corrected. The following household is taken from the 1900 census, > More Og Romsdal, Vestnes, and the farmname is EINEN. (please forgive my > formatting) > > Name Family status Marital status Occupation Birth year > > Ole Einen hf g Husmand, forpakter m J 1844 > Berte Einen hm g Husmandskone 1845 > Peter Helland s ug Skomager 1877 > Olufine Helland d ug Husligt arb., kreaturstel. 1881 > Nils Helland s ug Arbeider i snedkerfabrik 1883 > Marie Helland d ug Barn 1888 > > Julie Helland d ug Barn > 1890 > Hans Helland hf g Driver snedker- og dreierfabrik1869 > Seriana Helland hm g Snedkerkone 1875 > Olav Helland s ug Barn > 1900 > Link to "Digitalarkivet": http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=f01535&gardpostnr=100&merk=100#ovre > Questions: > Ole & Berte have the surname Einen because that's the farm that they > currently reside on? They changed their surname to Einen when they moved > there from wherever they had been before? The children have the name > Helland because that is the name of the farm that the family lived on > when they were born? This seems to be a special case. The answer to the first question is apparently "yes". For the remaining, there are some questions to the source and the regitration of it. It appears that the farm name i Helland nedre. This is farm No.45 i Vestnes, and it is the vicars's recidence. Einen is a 'husmannsplass' (small, rented farm) under Helland. Geographically, Einen may be in some distance from the main farm houses of Helland but still within the area of it. Thus, somehow, the person registering the family in the census has witten Einen as surname for the parents and Helland for the children. This may be correct or incorrect - there is no general rule that can help you figuring out this. I note that there is/was a local parish farm by > the name of Helland and wonder if that is likely the place that they > previously resided? I see that Helland seems to be more of a place on > the map now than a farm. > > For those who are familiar with the numerous errors in the US censuses > of given & surname spelling errors, birthdate errors, placename errors, > etc; would you say that the Norwegian censuses have far fewer errors? > about the same number? more? > > Mvh > Bob > >