How do names work in Sweden?

Swedish naming conventions structure names in a similar format to the English-speaking West, with the surname following the given name(s) (e.g. Olivia Alice ERIKSSON). Some Swedes continue the tradition of giving a child a name unique to the family, which is often the name of a relative.

How do you address people in Sweden?

When doing business in Sweden, you can expect to address a person by his/her first name. To maintain their personal space, Swedes tend to stay relatively far apart when conversing. Personal space is private, so with the exception of the handshake, avoid touching.

How do Scandinavian surnames work?

The patronymic naming system was used in all of Scandinavia. That means a Scandinavian’s family name was formed by taking the first name of the natural father and adding sen, son, sson, søn, datter, dotter, or dottir to it. They carried their maiden surname throughout their life in the records.

Why do people write their last name first?

Being an old feudal socitey, this was only logical. Actually in our passports naming system is Last name then First name. So airlines assure that you will not face problem at immigration in foreign countries as they people don’t know what is your name and surname.

Is it OK to refer to someone by their last name?

Usually, at least in the US (but I think it’s widespread in English-speaking parts of Earth), people are addressed by first name or by honorific + last name. Use of just the last name is not generally considered polite, except that is common in the military when a superior is addressing an inferior.

Do Swedish people have surnames?

In Sweden, a person must have a surname and one or more given names. Two given names are common. Surnames are inherited from the parents, in the order of “same as elder sibling, if any; specified by parents; or mother’s last name,” while given names must be chosen by the parents at birth.

What would my Swedish name be?

Vad heter du? what is your name? Vad heter du? What’s your name?

Do Swedish people kiss as a greeting?

Towards the bottom of this interview HERE I mention it as one of the most embarrassing mistakes I’ve made in Sweden, going around kissing stand offish Swedes who generally like their personal space; at least until you are good friends.

What is the most common Swedish last name?

Andersson
Sweden

Rank	Surname	Number of bearers 2012
1	Andersson	251,621
2	Johansson	251,495
3	Karlsson	223,151
4	Nilsson	171,360

Which countries use surname first?

Traditionally, family names come first in Japanese, as they do in China and Korea. But beginning in the late 19th century, Japanese began adopting the Western custom of putting the given name first and family name second, at least when writing their names in English.

Can you have two last names in Sweden?

You can change to any name one of your parents bears or have used to bear, or the name of your spouse. You can make a patronymic or metronymic name based on the first name of your father or mother plus “son” or “dotter” (daughter in Swedish). You can have two surnames, and by the new law both are surnames.

How many extra vowels are there in Swedish?

Here is the first one of the three extra vowels in Swedish (they come in the end of the alphabet by the way, in this order: å, ä, ö). The challenge is to really distinguish them as separate vowels, and not just muddled versions of A and O.

What is the meaning of Å in Swedish?

The Å can be thought of as the ‘au’ sound in (British accent) ‘Paul’. Indeed, some Swedish Pauls actually spell their names Pål. The sound is long, as in a long ‘Pååål’, or ‘poor’. This letter can be thought of as the English ‘ai’ in ‘pair’, or ‘hair’.

What is an example of a maiden name?

Mary (Smith) Jones, where Smith is the maiden (unmarried) name of the wife and Jones the name of the husband. The above example = a woman who as originally named Alice Brown before she married a man whose surname is Chandler. What does “mother’s maiden name” mean? How would you explain it to a child?