Last name Forsberg added

[bsgraves]

I am trying to figure out how my family added the last name Forsberg. In 1873 my ancestor Matts Andersson added the last name Forsberg and is later referred to as Matts Forsberg in the Kommunion books. I am curious why he changed from using his patronomic name to a last name. Did it signify anything?

[Heikki Särkkä]

It might or might not. Nobody knows. Sometimes it meant that the father had acknowdged an illegitimate child, but just as well it might mean that the person needed a last name to be an craftsman or a soldier.

[Ritva Winter]

In those days it was common - and incouraged by the authorities - to add a family name to the patronymic name, reason of which was the population growth. It became increasingly difficult to separate people with the same name. Quite often the family name referred to a farm, but in Nordic countries names referring to nature became popular. Fors = stream, berg = mountain

[bsgraves]

Thanks for the information.