Swedish words in old records · card D

dotter

Dotter is Swedish for "daughter"; it is also the ending of women's patronymic surnames, so Persdotter means "Per's daughter."

In household rolls children are listed after their parents with s. for son or d. or dr. for dotter. The same word forms women's patronymics: Anna Persdotter was the daughter of a man named Per, and she kept that name after marriage.

This means a mother and her daughters usually have different surnames, and none matches the father's. Around 1900, as inherited family names spread, wives increasingly took their husband's surname.

As seen in a recordHousehold examination roll of a Swedish parish, 1840s
Dotter Maja Stina, f. 1844 9/5
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How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "dotter." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/swedish/dotter. Last checked 2026-10-28.

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