Names for Dutch, German, French, & Swedish charact

Thanks to all four of you, Boudicca, hann.a, Nutmeg, and Phoenix. Here here is my revised list of names, plus more questions.

The Schoonhoven family, Dutch:
1. Petrus Schoonhoven —father 28, goes by "Peter". Loses leg in bad accident, but, stays cheerful and buoyant. His Dutch surname of Schoonhoven means "beautiful gardens".
2. Maartje Schoonhoven —mother, 28, goes by "Mary" or "Martha". Ever faithful to Peter, she nurses him through his painful recovery period.
3. Pascal Schoonhoven —son, 9, goes by "Paul".
4. Machtelje Schoonhoven —daughter , 8, "Tellie".
5. Eeuwit Schoonhoven —son, 6, "Ewing".

The Gunvaldssons, Swedish:
6. Oskar Gunvaldsson—husband, 23, farmer; family moved to New York from Sweden; he wants to find enough gold to buy a farm. His surname in Swedish means "son of Gunvald". The Old Norse name Gunvald means "war ruler"
7. Lovisa Sophiadottir Gunvaldsson—wife, 20, married just four months; Oskar calls her "Diva", Swedish meaning "Dove" or “My little dove” She has the first baby born on the trip.
22. Jacobina Sophiadottir Svensson—Swedish, 22, Lovisa Gunvaldsson's older sister, married to Pär Svensson. I added her because I had the first name and I needed another character. Pär dies before the story begins, so she is a widow.

The Sauveterres, French:
8. Jean Pierre Sauveterre—husband, 19, recently married. His French name comes from a town in France derived from sauve "safe" and terre "land": therefore "safe haven".
9. Claudine Sauveterre—wife, 19, recently married. She is pregnant for most of the trip, making the journey very hard on her; baby is born in the Nevada desert.

The Forstner Family, German:
10. Frederick Förstner—father, 30, called "Fred". Born in New York. German form of Forester.
11. Gertrude Förstner—mother, 28, called "Trudie ", born in New York.
12. Liesel Förstner—daughter, 16, born in a German settlement in Columbus, Ohio.
13. Günther Förstner—son, 14, born in Ohio.

14. Yves Lapointe—French, 25. I decided to keep his name because Saint Yves, born in Brittany in the 1300s, is all the excuse I need to have the name for a character in 1849. My reference is the Catholic Encyclopedia at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08256b.htm

Nutmeg, all the common French names seem to be overused, but Jacques is the most overused. Many Disney films and animated features have used it. Pierre is also very common. I never came across a Jean Pierre in any of the research I have been using.

Phoenix, I never liked Odette, either, but it seemed to be least common of those I remembered from those I found on the lists I used. I finally decided on Claudine from Andy William's former wife, a singer from either France or Canada. That name isn't too common, although it still isn't great.

Hann. a, I am now very happy with all the German and Dutch names.

Boudicca, I have four more questions for you:
1. Is there anything else for Oskar to call Lovisa, other than "Dove" or "My little dove"? What is the translation for "my little".
2. Please give me the Swedish word(s) for other expressions?
3.Is Sophiadottir the correct maiden name translation of Sophia's Daughter?
4.Is Svensson a correct name with correct spelling, or would Svenson be better?
Oops. I can't count. That was five. (Sorry.)


Thank you all so much!

Glad you're getting your answers, Dave

Just a quick correction - it's duva and not diva. And -dotter, not -dottir (if you don't want to make her Icelandic!)

Thanks again for all your help!

Boudicca, I asked five questions for you to answer. Because you gave a brief answer, I thought perhaps you didn't have time to answer the others, so I waited, hoping you would answer them. November is very close now, so please take the time to answer.

Here they are again:

Thanks again!

1. That would depend on what you want it to be, like any pet names they are highly individual. A common short form of Lovisa is 'Lolo'.

2. 'Min lilla'

3. It is - BUT the mother's name is only used in last names if the father is unknown and the child a bastard. Otherwise it's the father's name + dotter.

4. Svensson is the common form (the first s of the double-S being the genitive-S)

Okay, thanks, Boudicca!

(If you have already seen this and saw that it was written by a guest, that was me, as you probably suspected. At least I'm not the only one to have made that mistake. Sometimes, I guess, that happens to all of us. --zDave40)

All my questions have been answered. Now, hopefully, I can write my book starting in one week!