Hi Gordon ~ The Norwegian naming system in the 1700's usually consisted of three names: 1. The first name 2. The patronymic name (such as Pedersen or Nilsdatter) 3. The name of the farm on which the person now lives The first two names don't change during a person's life, but the farm name can change every time the person moves to a different farm, although I sometimes see people refer to a person by the name of the farm at which they were born. The farm names cause a bit of quandary for genealogists, and this and other email lists have had discussions of which farm name to use when doing a family tree or database. Hope that this helps, John Reindl, Genealogist Nord Hedmark og Hedemarken Lag Gordon Anderson wrote: > In the records of Hvaler, Østfold, Norway (1700's) I see many farm names > such as Seylöe, Sannöe, Spier, Haugge, Ørdal, etc. etc. But I see no farm > names reflecting the names of people who lived there. Such as Pedersen, > Jacobsen, Nilsen, etc. Do the farm names predate the system of adding "sen" > after a fathers first name? Or are the farm names a descriptive name or term > of some sort? Thanks for any assistance. > >