Swedish name

They were gradually replaced by permanent surnames starting with the nobility and clergy, followed by the middle classes.

From the time of the Reformation, the latinised form of their birthplace (Laurentius Petri Gothus, from Östergötland) became a common naming practice for the clergy.

The Swedish nobility during medieval times did not have formal naming conventions, as letters of patent did not appear until 1420.

The families of the uradel used names deriving from the crest of the house such as Brahe, Natt och Dag, Bielke, Sparre, Oxenstierna, Trolle, Bååt and Bonde.

Ornamental family names joining two elements from birthplace or nature, such as Bergman ("mountain man"), Holmberg ("island mountain"), Lindgren ("linden branch"), Sandström ("sand stream") and Åkerlund ("field grove") were quite frequent and remain common today.

Before Sweden's Family Name Regulation Act (släktnamnsförordningen) of 1901, the patronymic was more widely used than the surname.

Another source of surnames was the Swedish allotment system, which from the mid-to-late 17th century was organised to maintain a standing army, and a number of farms were grouped together and supported a soldier with a small cottage and piece of land.

The soldiers were often given names either describing their character (e.g. Modig 'brave', Skarp 'sharp' or Snygg 'clean') or weapons (e.g. Sabel 'sabre', Lans 'lance' or Sköld 'shield') or joining two elements from nature as above.