OT: Scandinavian questions

From: Guy Hoyle <ghoyle1_at_airmail.net>
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 11:26:16 -0500

Pardon this terribly off-topic post, but I need to ask a question about Scandinavian names and customs, and hope someone on this rather international list would be able to help. Please direct the answers to ghoyle1_at_airmail.net to avoid consuming precious bandwidth.

Question 1: I need some names for a Norwegian family that has immigrated to the American West in the 1800s. Are/were Norwegians still using the father or mother's name + -son or -dottir as their surname, or have they standardized surnames in the English and American fashion?

Question 2: Do you know any interesting customs or superstitions that I can use to help make this family a little bit distinctive?

Thanks, and again, sorry for the intrusion. My email address again is ghoyle1_at_airmail.net.

Guy

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