Hi Bo! In earlier times occupational names did not seem to be very common, presumably because of the patronymic and farm name systems. Even our very common Smith's equivalent, Smed is only used by 5 people in 2001. Incidentally, Kjøbmand has its equivalent in Scotland as Chapman. Olaf > Were occupational names common as family names in the Nordic area? > > For instance "Kjobmand " only gives abt 88 hits on Google. > And many are for the same person...