Ornamental Name

Ornamental names are very typical for Sweden. They were usually created in the 17th and 18th century, when the middle class followed the nobility and wanted their own hereditary surnames.

In the beginning, combinations with -man (= 'man') were common. Later farm name elements were combined with other elements, usually related to nature. Some of the names may appear to describe a real landscape, but the elements are arbitrarily combined.

Typical Swedish ornamental names are:

• Lindberg
• Lindström
• Lindqvist
• Lindgren
• Bergström
• Lundberg
• Lundgren
• Lundqvist
• Berglund
• Sandberg
• Forsberg
• Sjöberg
• Engström
• Eklund
• Bergman
• Wikström
• Bergqvist
• Nyström
• Holmberg
• Löfgren

You can find a lot of ornamental name elements and their meanings here.