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Danish Genealogy Blog

Welcome to Professional Genealogist Lene Kottal's blog about genealogy in Denmark. Read the blog posts to learn how to research your Danish family history.

All posts Vital and Census Records Court Records Military Records Real Property Records Immigration and Emigration Manorial Records Miscellaneous Databases and Tools Historical Maps Danish Names

The 1828 Name Law in Denmark: Explained for Genealogists

This blog post provides background information on why Denmark introduced the name law in 1828 and outlines the requirements of that law. It also touches upon the variances in compliance with the law. Finally, it suggests research strategies to overcome challenges and avoid the common mistakes made when researching ancestors through the transition period that followed the implementation of the law in 1828.

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Patronymics in Practice: A Danish Family in the 1700s

Why do surnames change so often in eighteenth-century Danish records? This blog post follows a family across generations to show how patronymics were formed and why parents and children rarely shared the same last name. Through a real-life case study, it explains how surnames were based on a father’s given name, not on a fixed family name. Understanding this system helps family historians avoid common mistakes and make sense of confusing Danish naming conventions.

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From Patronymics to Proper Surnames: Understanding Danish Naming Traditions

This blog post teaches why your Danish ancestors’ surnames changed. It explains the patronymic surname system and outlines when fixed surnames were adopted in Denmark. Finally, it provides practical tips for tracing Danish family names.

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From Data to Narrative: Genealogist versus Family Historian

The titles genealogist and family historian are often used interchangeably, but some claim that genealogy and family history are two distinct disciplines with their own focus and approach to researching and understanding our ancestry. Here is my take on it.

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School Records: Attendance and Absence

The last two days I have shown examples of Danish school records showing grading of the pupils. Teachers also had to record the absence and attendance of each pupil from 1814, because going to school was mandatory in Denmark. In this post I give an example of an attendance and absence record and an example from a book of pupils.

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19th Century Birth Record from a Danish Market Town

Since 1646, Folkekirken (the Church of Denmark) has been obliged to keep records of births, which took place in the Danish parishes. No secular registration of births takes place in Denmark, except in Southern Jutland. A few other religions have obtained the right to keep records for the members of their congregation, but the vast majority of births are recorded by Folkekirken. When searching for Danish birth records, the place to start is therefore the parish registers, also called church books.

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Biographies of Scandinavian Immigrants in New York 1630-1676

Was your ancestor among the settlers of New York in the seventeenth century? Were they Scandinavians or Germans? Then the book Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630-1676 might be of interest to your family history.

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Biographies in a Danish 18th Century Church Book

The parish clerk for Egtved Parish, Denmark, wrote short biographies of deceased parishioners in the church book from 1767-1789.

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Memoirs about Christmas in the 1860s

Danish Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Furthermore, regional differences in the celebrations existed and still do. Even if your Danish ancestor did not write their memoirs, you might still be able to get an idea of their traditions. Someone else from the same time and area might have written their memoirs, such as Niels Peder Grønvald Nielsen of Ryslinge.

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Family history based on old bills, receipts, and letters

Old bills and letters can help tell our ancestors' family history. My grandmother Jenny Kirstine (Juhl) Hansen rarely threw away paperwork, which means we have a lot of documents that reveal details about the family's life. In this blog post, I share the information I gleaned from a change of address notification, a lease agreement, a bill, some receipts, and a letter from the municipality. All of this is tied into my mother's memories of the family's relocation from downtown Odense to the suburb of Bolbro in 1954.

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Denmark's Constitution: Freedom of Religion

Do you have ancestors who lived in Denmark in 1849? This year in significant to Danish history because the ratified the first Danish Constitution that year. It gave Danes several rights, including freedom of religion. Get tips for which records to examine to understand how freedom of religion impacted your ancestors' lives.

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Danish Ancestors: Why Did They Emigrate from Denmark?

Many of my clients want to know why their Danish ancestors emigrated. When the story has not been passed down in the family, the question cannot always be answered. However, in this blog post I give two examples of how you might find the reason for your ancestor's emigration.

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