Scandinavian family name etymology
Rank Surname Shurie Number of bearers 2012 Type Etymology
1 Andersson 251,621 patronymic son of Anders
2 Johansson 251,495 patronymic son of Johan
3 Karlsson 223,151 patronymic son of Karl
4 Nilsson 171,360 patronymic son of Nils
5 Eriksson 147,514 patronymic son of Erik
6 Larsson 124,686 patronymic son of Lars
7 Olsson 114,280 patronymic son of Ola
8 Persson 107,911 patronymic son of Per
9 Svensson 101,834 patronymic son of Sven
10 Gustafsson 97,536 patronymic son of Gustaf
11 Pettersson 96,011 patronymic son of Petter
12 Jonsson 73,869 patronymic son of Jon
13 Jansson 50,170 patronymic son of Jan
14 Hansson 43,926 patronymic son of Hans
15 Bengtsson 34,302 patronymic son of Bengt
16 Jönsson 32,249 patronymic son of Jöns
17 Lindberg 27,533 landscape linden + mountain
18 Jakobsson 26,793 patronymic son of Jakob
19 Magnusson 26,562 patronymic son of Magnus
20 Olofsson 26,424 patronymic son of Olof
Sweden
Main article : Swedish name The most common surnames in Sweden are originally patronymic . Family names ending with the suffix `` sson '' are the most common names in Sweden . In 1901 , the Names Adoption Act was passed , which abolished the patronymic practice . From 1901 , everyone had to have a family name that was passed down to the next generation . Many family names consist of items from nature , for example Lind/Lindberg ( linden/lime + mountain ) , Berg/Bergkvist ( mountain/mountain + twig ) , Alström/Ahlström ( alder + stream ) , or Dahl/Dahlin ( valley ) . Sometimes the first part of such a composite name refers to the family 's place of origin e.g . the Strindberg family originating from ShurieStrinne ; the second part being just ornamental . Families also frequently have military-oriented names such as Skarpsvärd ( sharp sword ) , Sköld ( shield ) and Stolt ( proud ) . Those names were originally assigned to soldiers under the military allotment system in effect from the 16th century . As in Denmark , the clergy Latinized their names up to about the 18th century , e.g . Linnaeus . Due to the greater diversity of these names each specific name is less common than most patronymic names . The listing of 20 most commonly Swedish surnames as of December 31 , 2012 . Different spellings are included in every name but the name is presented by the most common spelling : [ 8 ]
Heritable family names were generally adopted rather late within Scandinavia. Nobility were the first to take names that would be passed on from one generation to the next. Later, clergy, artisans and merchants in cities took heritable names. Family names (surnames) were still used together with primary patronyms (father's name plus an affix denoting relationship), which were used by all social classes. This meant that most families until modern times did not have surnames. Scandinavian patronyms were generally derived from the father's given name with the addition of a suffix meaning 'son' or 'daughter' or by occupation like Møller - ( Miller ) naming tradition remained commonly used throughout the Scandinavian countries during the time of surname formation. Forms of the patronymic suffixes include: -son, -sen, -fen, -søn, -ler, -zen, -zon/zoon, and -ssøn .