Daily Ancestordreng
Dreng means a boy or young man, and in older Norwegian records often a farmhand: a young man in service on someone else's farm.
SNL explains that dreng first meant a young man and came to mean men in service with others, especially farmhands. NAOB lists senses that include a young unmarried man, a farm boy and an apprentice.
FamilySearch gives simply boy, and drengebarn is a male child. In Danish the word now usually means a small boy. In a census, read dreng next to the person's age and place in the household: a grown dreng who is not a son of the house is a farmhand.
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How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "dreng." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/norwegian/dreng. Last checked 2026-10-28.