Names for Dutch, German, French, & Swedish charact

People went to California in 1849 to settle and farm, as well as to get rich quick by panning for gold. Although my main characters are all from 21st Century United States, the ones in 1849 include German, French, Dutch, and Swedish farmers.

How do these names sound to those of you who may be familiar with the countries? Most of these characters are the first or second generation born in the United States.

I would like to have these names "set" before November, so if there are any that just plain don't sound right, please let me know as soon as possible.

The Slootmaeker family, Dutch:
1. Petrus Slootmaeker—father 28, goes by "Peter". Loses leg in bad accident, but, stays cheerful and buoyant. His Dutch surname of Slootmaeker means "the maker of locks" in Dutch, an occupational name for a locksmith.
2. Maartje Slootmaeker—mother, 28, goes by "Mary". Ever faithful to Peter, she nurses him through his painful recovery period.
3. Pascal Slootmaeker—son, 9. Would "Paul" be his Americanized nickname?
4. Machtelje Slootmaeker—daughter , 8, "Tellie".
5. Eeuwit Slootmaeker—son, 6, no real nickname, but usually called "Ewing".

The Gunvaldssons, Swedish:
6. Sten Gunvaldsson—husband, 23, farmer; family moved to New York from Sweden; he wants to find enough gold to buy a farm. His name in Swedish means "son of Gunvald". The Old Norse name Gunvald means "war ruler"
7. Tuva Gunvaldsson—wife, 20, married just four months; Sten calls her Tjader, Swedish meaning "magpie" or “My little magpie” (Swedish translation, please!). She has the first baby born on the trip.
Is there anything better for Sten to call Tuva, other than my suggestion? Some other bird, perhaps? Please give me the Swedish word(s).

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. Odette 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. Friederike Förstner—father, 30, called "Fred". Born in New York. German form of Forester, spelled Forstner.
11. Radmilla Förstner—mother, 28, called "Millie", born in New York.
12. Liesel Förstner—daughter, 16, born in Ohio.
13. Günther Förstner—son, 14, born in Ohio.

14. Yves Lapointe—French, 25, now traveling alone. His last name means "point of a lance" in French. The name was originally a nickname for a soldier. Before he is rescued by the "future" people, he loses his wife to cholera, his one son to chicken pox, both his girls to measles, all since leaving Westport.


Those are my people. Some will only be mentioned by name, some of the youngest children will die from severe accidents, some already died from cholera, chicken pox, and measles.

In case this high number of deaths sounds strangely exaggerated to you, young children were prone to deadly accidents, like falling out of a wagon and getting run over the the wheels. Disease combined with extremely poor sanitary habits and generally bad sanitation killed many more. The most tragic killer of all was from accidents caused by firearms. Most of these people armed themselves heavily, but few knew how to properly handle a gun. Guns had no safety features. If they were loaded, they were designed to kill whether by intent or accident.

I'm taking on the challenge!

Right, Swedish. First of all I'm guessing tjader is tjäder - which is capercaillie in English. Magpie is 'skata' in Swedish - but that is generally used as an insult to old ladies.

If he is called Gunvaldsson that means that his father's name is Gunvald, back in those days you took the name of your father and added the -son. The same goes for daughters, father's name + -dotter (daughter). If the father was unknown you took the mothers name and added -son or -dotter. His wife would probably be known also by her own name, even after they are married (but that is a bit more up to you).

And I would recommend a change of the name Tuva - it's really modern. If you want to I can give you a list of really old-fashioned names. Sten I guess you could be called, though it was more popular in the 1950's.

Yes, I am far to thorough, but I have a feeling you like it that way!

Surname is fine .

Fr(i)ederike is a female name, the male form is Frederick.
Radmilla has a Russian sound to me, it's definitely not a common German name.
The kid's name are good indeed and should fit the time as well, as does the father's name (in it's male form, of course ).


Not sure about the Dutch names. But I think it's actually 'Slotenmaker' rather than Slootmaeker. 'Sloten' is the plural of lock and 'maker' a person doing stuff.

Thank you for the quick replies for Swedish and German. I'll take the Dutch correction, unless someone else has something to say. I don't know how close Dutch is to German.

Now, if you French-speakers will step in and tell me what you think of "Yves Lapointe".

I got most of these words from babynames.com and other Websites. Last January or February, Boudicca cautioned me about the accuracy of some of those Websites' names. That is why I am checking with as many people as possible who speak the languages or live in the nations.

Boudicca, I want to have the correct diacritical marks for the original name, but it's very likely that after living in English-speaking United States for a few years, or after a generation, most of the names were anglicized. (Tjäder becomes Tjader, but I did forget to include the umlaut.)

What is 'capercaillie'? It is not an English word. "Magpie is 'skata' in Swedish." I sure don't want to use an insult. Please suggest some names or phrases a husband can lovingly call his wife, and wife call her husband.

I am well aware of the way Swedish surnames were formed, but hadn't it begun to change by the mid-1850s? (Gunvaldsson, the son of Gunvald.) Did the wife's maiden name not change when she got married? You said, "That is a bit more up to you." Maybe she would change it simply because that was the custom in the U.S.

Please do suggest different names for Sten and Tuva, names that were commonly used in the 19th Century.

And you are absolutely right in your closing statement, "Yes, I am far to thorough, but I have a feeling you like it that way! smile.gif" I DO like it that way!


hann.a

"Surname of Förstner is fine." I am thinking it would retain the German spelling until a while after moving to California because they came from a German community in Columbus, Ohio. If anything were changed, it would be dropping the umlaut.

"Fr(i)ederike is a female name, the male form is Frederick." That was a big mistake! I should have known the name was wrong because my wife's grandfather was named Frederick. Thank you!

"Radmilla has a Russian sound to me, it's definitely not a common German name." I agree, but I thought maybe it was used in Germany, too. Please make a few suggestions of women's names that probably were common in the mid-19th Century.

"The kids' names are good indeed and should fit the time as well, as does the father's name (in it's male form, of course ."
Whew! Some success at last!

About the Dutch name...
Hann.a also said, "Not sure about the Dutch names. But I think it's actually Slotenmaker' rather than Slootmaeker. 'Sloten' is the plural of lock and 'maker' a person doing stuff."

I'll accept your statement unless anyone else knows some Dutch, but isn't 'macher' the German word for 'maker' as in 'Schumacher'? The Dutch spelling might be 'maeker'.

From what I have been reading in the diaries of the emigrants that went to both Oregon and California, the Dutch were objects of ridicule and stupid jokes. I don't know if this was a form of discrimination or not, but that's why I want them in the story. They will give my Black family some support, and maybe vice versa.

When Peter loses his leg in an accident, some people would give up, but he recovers and keeps his cheery mood, which will certainly sway opinions in his favor. The character is important, so I want his name to be a good one. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks to those who responded, and thanks in advance to anyone else who wants to offer advice!

it is in English.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capercaillie
But a common way to have a pet-name for a woman is to call her a dove 'duva'.

The names didn't change (not for common people) until the early 20th century - unless you were in the military and you got a new surname, often after trees and plants or qualifications. But that was more at the end of the 19th century. In Sweden women were known by their maiden name even after their wedding - but as you say they can change that once they've got to the US and adopted the American way.

Popular names back then, for women: Emma, Maria, Sara, Margareta, Lovisa, Ada, Sophia, Jacobina, Augusta to name a few.
For boys Karl (or Carl) was by far the most favoured one. But there are also for example Johan, John, Oskar, Per (or Pär), August.

If you want more I can probably find it....

Hm, oldish names: Johanna, Gertrude, Mathilde/Mathilda, Maria/Marie, Fanny, Anna, Louise/Louisa, Therese/Theresa ... I can find more, if you need them!

It is! Hehe. But the Dutch spelling is 'maker'. Just double-checked it in my dictonary (I'm kind of learning Dutch at the moment ... as an easy way to learn another language ).

Thanks for your replies. The names are helpful. I'll let you know my final decisions--or ask you for more choices, but I think they will work. They presented a few more questions, though.

Boudicca, is the Swedish pronunciation of the letter J like English J or Y?
Is V pronounced like the English V or W?

No wonder I didn't recognize "capercaille" as an English word. It comes from Scottish Gaelic, meaning "horse of the woods" and means a large grouse of the Eurasian forests.

Hann.a, I was hoping to find a name that did not sound anything like English or German, which is why I picked Slootmaeker, but Slotenmaker is almost too much like English. I tried a translating online dictionary, which wasn't enough help.

Looking up "lockmaker" gave me "vervaardiger", which is exactly the non-English sort of name I was looking for. I mean, it is completely unlike any English word. Does it mean lockmaker?

Thanks again!

Slotmaker is the Dutch word for lockmaker.

Vervaardiger comes from vervaardigen which means to produce/to make.

Another way of making sure it sounds really Dutch is to use one of the names with a 'van' or in front. Like 'van Buren' or 'van Schoonhoven'. In the second one you have the double 'o' which is typical Dutch as well, it means something like 'from the town of Schoonhoven', with schoonhoven translated as 'fine/beautiful gardens'. The first just means 'from the town of Buren'.

Other than that - I'm learning Dutch because it is so similar to German and English! After 25 2-hour sessions I can already read a novel. It takes a bit longer but I can get most of the meanings from my knowledge of German, English and the Dutch grammar rules! So you are bound to find similar things.

You can try this as well.

The Swedish J is much more like a Y and the V is just like V.

Hann.a, my miniscule knowledge of German has been picked up mainly from my mother-in-law, assisted by my wife, who can understand the spoken language (barely), but not speak or read it, and from bits learned here and there. Yes, it is (sort of) like English.

And thank you for suggesting Van Schoonhoven. It is a perfect name! That name problem is solved!

Boudicca, thanks. Now I have to decide between Jacobina and Lovisa (and now you know why I asked that question). The decision may take a while.

I'm glad I could help .

I'm afraid speaking the language doesn't necessarily translate to a working knowledge of the history and trends of names, which is why I've not posted anything about the French names, Dave. I can ask around at work tomorrow; actual francophones would be more likely to at least have a sense of what names are old-fashioned and would be more likely to suit the time period.

Yves and Jean seem pretty all-purpose and sensible. I checked a bit online, and Yves was apparently a 14th c. saint, so you've got to be fine with it in the 1850s, and Jean was used before and after that period, so you should be good there, as well. Odette seems wrong to me (for the period, I mean), but that doesn't mean that it is, as this is based on a random feeling, not any sort of actual knowledge; I'll ask around.

Glad to be of service. I might add that Jacobina and Lovisa are both name frequented in my family at just that time (Lovisa is my maternal grandmothers maternal grandmother and (Sophia) Jacobina was my maternal grandmothers maternal grandfathers mother). I've spent the weekend in archives doing family-research...

And I would agree with Jean being a good all-round name, it's very frequent in French 19th century literature.

My only experience of French and German is what I've picked up from school. I know Elise is a French name, but no idea what sort of time period. I don't suppose they have birth/death records online for that period, or a list of the ten most popular names...

To me, Jean Pierre sounds a little cliched. You might want to try and find something a little more unusual. Although maybe that just came from my French class and a song I learnt when I was younger.

Alright, so I checked at work, and you've got the go-ahead for the Sauveterres, including Odette (apparently, I just don't like the name ).

My source suggests that Yves seems too modern to her (or that it was at least not in vogue in the 1850s) and she suggests Jacques Lapointe instead.

Hope this helps