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slaleike
Junior member
USA
57 Posts |
 Posted - 29/12/2020 : 05:13:33
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In light of the news about the closing of this site, I have been double checking all my notes and revisiting some of the excellently informative articles.
I have one main question at this point, referencing the mother of my great-great grandmother Gunhild Svendsen (nee Olsdatter). In looking at the Noklegaard genealogy page linked in the 4th post from the bottom, 1st page this topic, my understanding is:
Ole Olsen Noklegaard married twice. His first wife, Gunild Aslaksdatter, died about 4 years before my g-g grandmother was born. The second wife of Ole was named Dorothea. She gave birth to Gunhild Olsdatter (c.1831) and then to a son, Ole Olsen (c. 1834).
So, I have this question: how usual/unusual would it have been for the first born daughter of a second wife to be named (presumably) for the deceased first wife? It might make more sense to my USAian-culture thinking if the second wife had a female ancestor also named Gunhild, but I don't think I saw that. I mentioned this to my husband, and he also thought it to be a rather unusual thing to do. Just totally curious about how compassionate Dorothea must have been to go through life calling her child by her husband's first wife's name...
Thanks so much if you have any insights. This seems maybe tangentially related to the practice of "recycling" names of infants that passed away early in life, but basically I'm just kind of curious about this.
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ToreL
Advanced member
Norway
842 Posts |
Posted - 29/12/2020 : 07:44:53
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| In my experience, this custom of naming the first child in a new marriage after the previous, deceased partner was very much the rule in the Norwegian cities in the 1700s and 1800s. Somebody elso might perhaps fill you out on the practise in rural districts. |
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Hopkins
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3351 Posts |
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slaleike
Junior member
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 30/12/2020 : 06:48:33
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Thanks so much to both of you for your rapid responses! After reading the linked article, I was fairly certain that I had indeed already read it, but at that time the connection between Peter, his two wives, and the daughter with the second wife had not sunk in, naming-wise.
I also want to thank you for the introspective moments this naming-custom information gave me. It is clearly a lovely way to honor and keep alive the memory of a departed loved one. Unusual to some of us, certainly, but that's the beauty of learning about other cultures and other times. |
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Baggage Allowances on the Voyage?
