Norwegian Surnames/ tracing distant ancestors

[Daniel Hagon]

Hi, My name is Daniel Hagon, I have been researching my family tree for many years and more recently DNA.

 

I have discovered a small autosomal DNA match with a Hagen in America which normally I would not pursue, but this person also matches with another test I manage and this makes me think there is a possibility that I have a paternal direct line match. This match person has a family tree that seems to check out but the Surname Hagen changes and this puzzles me. I have a Thore Asleson Hagen born 10 Jul 1867 Torpo, Hallingsdal, Norway as the son of Asle T Vestenfor born 1840 Norway who is married to Guri Opheim born in 1839 Norway. Would anyone be so kind as to explain this to me, why is there a surname change, is this normal or is this a mistake. 

[Anfinn Bernaas]

https://www.norwaydna.no/gedcoms-and-genealogy/norwegian-names-en/

[Daniel Hagon]

Cheers Anfinn, That information suggests that this name change is normal but I don't think it is useful to me, I don't think I would be able to track further generations without the help of a professional. The common ancestor I am looking for would be born around 1750, is it even possible to trace a paternal lineage in Norway?

[Daniel Hagon]

Would it be difficult to trace living relatives of Asle T Vestenfor?

[Matthias Kolberg]

Finding relatives in Norway is relatively straight forward, as most records are online and publicly available.

 

Here is Thore’s baptism record

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0007: Parish register (official) no. I 7, 1865-1881, p. 22
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20061102350832
son of Asle Thoresen and Guri Halvorsdatter Vestenfor

Asle and Guri were married on 10 April 1863

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0006: Ministerialbok nr. I 6, 1849-1864, s. 270
Brukslenke for sidevisning: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20051109020316
Asles father is listed as Thore Pedersen 

 

Most likely the one born on December 29, 1840, called Aslag, son of Thore Pedersen Braaten under Bjorøen and Ragnhild Aslesdatter

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0005: Parish register (official) no. I 5, 1825-1848, p. 108
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20051109031054

 

 

 

 

[Matthias Kolberg]

Thore Pedersen Bjorøbraaten, a widower, married Ragnhild Aslesdatter Helling on June 8 1837

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0005: Parish register (official) no. I 5, 1825-1848, p. 290
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20051109031244

Thore, age 36, was born on Sire, son of Peder Arnesen

Endret Juli 30, 2023 av Matthias Kolberg

[Jostein Stokke]

Census 1875 - 3 generations:

https://www.digitalarkivet.no/census/person/pf01052119000414

[Matthias Kolberg]

His first marriage was on 28 March 1828, here 30 years old. Married to Birgit Larsdatter Vesledal

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0005: Ministerialbok nr. I 5, 1825-1848, s. 271
Brukslenke for sidevisning: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20051109031223
 

Thore Pedersen born 1798 can be found with parents and siblings on Ødegaarden in the 1801 census

https://www.digitalarkivet.no/census/person/pf01058272001797

 

 

[Matthias Kolberg]

Thore Pedersen was named Thord at his baptism, #48

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0002: Ministerialbok nr. I 2, 1771-1806, s. 267-268
Brukslenke for sidevisning: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070314660139
 

Endret Juli 30, 2023 av Matthias Kolberg

[Matthias Kolberg]

Enkemand (widower) Peder Arnesen Siire married Pigen (previously unmarried girl) Barbra Olsdatter Oppem in 1795. No dates were specified for the marriages that year:

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0002: Parish register (official) no. I 2, 1771-1806, p. 245-246
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070314660128
 

[Matthias Kolberg]

Peder Arnesen is most likely the one baptized on 18 March 1746 in Aal

second baptism on the right page

Ål kirkebøker, SAKO/A-249/F/Fa/L0001: Parish register (official) no. I 1, 1744-1769, p. 57-58
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070314650118

Son of Arne Bojgaard (Bøygard)
 

[Daniel Hagon]

WOW!! Thankyou so much Matthias

 

I am amazed how quickly you were able to find those records, you might say it's easy but I would not know where to start and this made more problematic by the language and my not being able to get my head around the names.😂

[Anton Hagelee]

3 hours ago, Daniel Hagon said:

 

I am amazed how quickly you were able to find those records, you might say it's easy but I would not know where to start and this made more problematic by the language and my not being able to get my head around the names.

 

Yes, doing genealogy of Norwegian families can be difficult, at least in the beginning but you took a good route by posting a query on this site. It is about where I started back in 2005. Learning gradually and starting with a search site such as Ancestry can speed up the learning process somewhat. 

 

Mathias has given you a good look at a family tree for the people you are interested in back to the birth of Peder Arnesen back in 1746. Now Mathas is skilled in this but you can also use a site such as Ancestry as a helper. Here is the Ancestry record on Peder.  Note that the record gives the father of Peder only his first name and a farm name. That can make going further back in time a bit more difficult. 

 

Peder Arnesen

in the Norway, Select Baptisms, 1634-1927

NamePeder Arnesen

GenderMale

Baptism Date18. mar 1746 (18 Mar 1746)

Baptism PlaceAal, Buskerud, Norway

FatherArne Bojgaards

FHL Film Number123842

Reference ID2:114131C

 

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/18871114:60092?_phsrc=jer14&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=peder&gsln=arn*&ml_rpos=1&queryId=47234994a9cab1a4b6b8c9d9be13fd6f

 

 

Endret Juli 30, 2023 av Anton Hagelee

[Anton Hagelee]

Another useful tool for searching is the free site Family Search, you need to register but the use of the site is free. Here is a link to a Family Tree  on Family Search. Oddly enough there is no parents listed for Peder Arnesen  but there is a family tree for his wife 

 

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LBSF-4MJ

 

 

[Rune Thorstensen]

According to Bygdesoga for Aal I find this at Sire.

Peder/Per Arneson 1746-1801 was married to Barbro Olsdtr. Opheim 1763-1847.

 

His parents where Arne Persson Bøygard  and Guri Olsdtr. from Nordre Li. Barbro parents where Ola Halvorson Vesledalstugu, Opheim and Margit Larsdatter Opheim.

Per/Peder Arneson was first married to Guri Embriktsdatter, Skjerheim  and he married the second time in 1795 to Barbro Olsdatter. No children in his first marriage.

[Matthias Kolberg]

2 hours ago, Rune Thorstensen said:

Per/Peder Arneson was first married to Guri Embriktsdatter, Skjerheim  and he married the second time in 1795 to Barbro Olsdatter. No children in his first marriage.

According to the 1801 census, Peder Arnesen had 8 children, only 4 of these were from the second marriage with Barbro Olsdatter.

 

Here from the scanned original census document

[Daniel Hagon]

On 7/30/2023 at 7:56 PM, Anton Hagelee said:

 

Yes, doing genealogy of Norwegian families can be difficult, at least in the beginning but you took a good route by posting a query on this site. It is about where I started back in 2005. Learning gradually and starting with a search site such as Ancestry can speed up the learning process somewhat. 

 

Mathias has given you a good look at a family tree for the people you are interested in back to the birth of Peder Arnesen back in 1746. Now Mathas is skilled in this but you can also use a site such as Ancestry as a helper. Here is the Ancestry record on Peder.  Note that the record gives the father of Peder only his first name and a farm name. That can make going further back in time a bit more difficult. 

 

Peder Arnesen

in the Norway, Select Baptisms, 1634-1927

NamePeder Arnesen

GenderMale

Baptism Date18. mar 1746 (18 Mar 1746)

Baptism PlaceAal, Buskerud, Norway

FatherArne Bojgaards

FHL Film Number123842

Reference ID2:114131C

 

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/18871114:60092?_phsrc=jer14&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=peder&gsln=arn*&ml_rpos=1&queryId=47234994a9cab1a4b6b8c9d9be13fd6f

 

 

 

On 7/30/2023 at 8:43 PM, Anton Hagelee said:

Another useful tool for searching is the free site Family Search, you need to register but the use of the site is free. Here is a link to a Family Tree  on Family Search. Oddly enough there is no parents listed for Peder Arnesen  but there is a family tree for his wife 

 

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LBSF-4MJ

 

 

Thanks Anton, that's great - have left a message with that tree and hopefully someone will get back to me. They all have Wisconsin, USA in common anyway. My DNA match is on Ancestry 

 

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/156047385/family?cfpid=432056944858 

[Daniel Hagon]

Thanks Anton, that's great - have left a message with that tree and hopefully someone will get back to me. They all have Wisconsin, USA in common anyway. My DNA match is on Ancestry 

 

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/156047385/family?cfpid=432056944858 

[Daniel Hagon]

Thanks a million to all. 

 

The common ancestors of my autosomal DNA matches are b.1850 so my connection must be through the ancestors of these. Possibly on my direct Hagon line that has proved elusive. Definitely connected to Ireland but this is the wall so far, as records are not good. There is a couple of possibilities including Norwegian boat builders. I need to prove if this DNA match I have is on the paternal (Hagon) or maternal line and so the search is on to find a living male on this line to take a Y-DNA test.

 

I promise to let you all know if I do make the connection.

 

P.S. I am curious how the name Hagen came about as the son of Asle T Vestenfor and Guri Opheim and the fact that my Family name is Hagon. 

[Matthias Kolberg]

36 minutes ago, Daniel Hagon said:

P.S. I am curious how the name Hagen came about as the son of Asle T Vestenfor and Guri Opheim and the fact that my Family name is Hagon.

Across the river from Vestenfor is a farm called Hagen. Most likely the family had some connections there

 

 

The village Torpo is best known for its wooden stave church dated to the year 1160, located next to Hagen.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpo_Stave_Church

 

 

 

 

Endret August 5, 2023 av Matthias Kolberg

[Daniel Hagon]

12 hours ago, Matthias Kolberg said:

Across the river from Vestenfor is a farm called Hagen. Most likely the family had some connections there

 

 

The village Torpo is best known for its wooden stave church dated to the year 1160, located next to Hagen.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpo_Stave_Church

 

 

 

 

You really are a genius, thanks. So it would make sense that we came from the same place and are related somehow here. This makes it less likely the later family name is a coincidence. Variants Hagan/ Hagon in Ireland and England.

[Jackie K Marler]

On 7/30/2023 at 8:05 AM, Daniel Hagon said:

Would it be difficult to trace living relatives of Asle T Vestenfor?

No.  Here is one Arve Evjen Vestaforvegen 39, 3579 Torpo

[Matthias Kolberg]

Here is the emigration record of Thore Aslesen from 1886, #9106

White Star-linjen, SAO/PAO-0201/D/Da/L0001: Emigrant, 1883-1890, p. 107
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/em20110223670107

And the matching immigration record from New York

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPF-XPQG

He did not use the name Hagen, or Vestenfor, at this point, so judging from the data presented so far, it cannot be excluded that the name Hagen came from another person. 

Hagen is a relatively common, almost generic, farm name in Norway, typically used as the name of a subdivision of an older farm.

 

That said, it would not be unexpected if Thore started using the name Hagen in America, just based on a perception that Hagen was the closest significant farm where he grew up, or even simply because Hagen was a more intelligible name than Aslesen or Vestenfor in America.

Endret August 6, 2023 av Matthias Kolberg

[Sigrun Randen]

According to this the farm Tore Asleson came from was also called Hagastranden and Hagabråten. 

 

http://www.aal-bygdebok.no/008013-.htm

Endret August 6, 2023 av Sigrun Randen

[Matthias Kolberg]

His grave confirms he used the name Hagen

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11016734/thore-asleson_vestenfor-hagen

 

US census 1900

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M93Z-LPJ

Endret August 6, 2023 av Matthias Kolberg