[#78310] Sørgen in Vestre Toten, Oppland

[Gjest Dennis Sorgen]

My last name comes from the farm Sørgen in Vestre Toten, Oppland. Can anyone tell me about this farm and why it was named Sørgen? Is there a positive meaning in this name?My great grandfather Andreas Pedersen was born there but used the name Peterson after immigrating to America. After many years in this country he decided to drop Peterson and use Sorgen.Everyone has told me that Sørgen means sorrow and when my uncle was asked why is grandfather choose a name that had such a negative meaning he said that it had a good meaning to the family. Unfortunately no one knows what that meaning was.I would appreciate any information about this farm and its history. I would also like to contact the current owners but am not sure how to do this.Takk Dennis Sorgen

[Gjest Torodd Kinn]

Below is the entry from the standard work Norske Gaardnavne (Norwegian farm names). The first part is the pronunciation; an approximation can be the American English pronunciation of 'Surya'.The second part says that it is possibly a river name, in which case it is old and uninterpreted. Or it may very well mean, as you say, 'the sorrow' or 'the grief', a negative label. There are other such names, such as Gråten, that is, 'the weeping'.As for the reason for such a negative name, perhaps there's someone here on the forum with local knowledge?Regards, Torodd 145. Sorgen. Udt. sø1rrja, Dat. -jen.Anført under Tvivl i Saml. af Elv. med den Bemærkning, at Gaarden ligger ved en Bæk, som gaar til Hunnselven fra Vest. Til en Elvenavnstamme Sorg- findes enkelte Spor, t. Ex. Sorgheim, forsvunden Gaard i Eidsberg, Sørgefoss i Norderhov (Bd. I S. 160). Det kan dog vel være et nyere Navn, det alm. Subst. Sorg, med 'nedsættende' Betydning (se Indl. S. 39), ligesom t. Ex. Graaten.

[Gjest Dennis Sorgen]

Thank you for your help ToroddHilsen, Dennis