--- title: My family is Scandinavian . . . now what?! description: In the years after the American Civil War, an influx of immigrants from Scandinavia settled in the United States. image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/1886-Parish-Register-300x233-1.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # My family is Scandinavian . . . now what?! [March 09, 2015](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/03/my-family-is-scandinavian-now-what) [Scandinavian research](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/scandinavian-research), [International genealogical research](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/international-genealogical-research), [Research Methods](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-methods), [Research tips](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-tips) [Sheilagh Doerfler](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/sdoerfler) [![1866 parish register of marriages, Lavik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, viewed at arkivverket.no.](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/1886-Parish-Register-300x233-1.jpg?width=300&height=233&name=1886-Parish-Register-300x233-1.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/1886-Parish-Register-1.jpg) 1866 parish register of marriages, Lavik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, viewed at arkivverket.no. In the years after the American Civil War, an influx of immigrants from Scandinavia settled in the United States. Pushed from their homelands by famine, overpopulation, and lack of economic opportunities, these Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, and Danes poured into the country. In particular, they were drawn to the American Midwest, where large tracts of fertile farmland were abundant. Here they established their own communities, where they spoke their mother language, established their own churches, and even published their own newspapers. Today many Americans can claim Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Danish ancestry. And if you are one of these Americans, you may be apprehensive about researching these ancestors because of the language barrier. Don’t be; with the right base of knowledge and a little practice, you’ll be well on your way to uncovering your Scandinavian roots. If you are just starting out, first try to learn as much as you can about your ancestor and his or her life in the United States. Does a marriage or death record reveal a Scandinavian birthplace? When did your ancestor immigrate and did he or she naturalize? Settle near other family members? As with all genealogical research, establishing a strong profile of your ancestor is important. Next, consult a research guide regarding your specific ancestral country. [FamilySearch](https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page) has many helpful research guides, providing general and specific information for each country. We have some excellent guides here in the [NEHGS library](http://library.nehgs.org/), too, which provide information regarding record collections, research strategies, the patronymic naming system, and tips on interpreting church records. They often include lists of key words to aid in deciphering church and census records, too. Both FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com have collections of Scandinavian church records, where you can begin the search for your ancestor. But, in my opinion, the best records are housed in each country’s national archives. Many repositories have digitized their collections, and here you can search parish registers, census records, land records, emigrations records, and—my all-time favorite— moving in and out records. In Scandinavia, the minister of the parish recorded the movements of each parishioner. Thus in church records you can find not just your ancestor’s name, birth date, and date of baptism but also the parish he or she came from or the destination parish. A genealogist’s dream! So don’t be hesitant about researching your Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, or Danish ancestors. Thanks to meticulous parish records, with some preparation and practice you will be able to learn more about your Scandinavian roots. **Resources** [The National Archives of Norway](http://www.arkivverket.no/arkivverket/Digitalarkivet) [The National Archives of Sweden](https://riksarkivet.se/startpage) [The Danish State Archives](https://www.sa.dk/content/us) [The National Archives Service of Finland](http://www.arkisto.fi/en/frontpage) ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/03/my-family-is-scandinavian-now-what](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/03/my-family-is-scandinavian-now-what) - - - More - - ![Sheilagh Doerfler](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Sheilagh_Doerfler_Jan251.jpg) ## About Sheilagh Doerfler Sheilagh Doerfler joined American Ancestors in 2013. As a member of the Research and Library Services team, she works to connect patrons and members with their family histories by fulfilling research requests, providing educational programming, and writing for American Ancestors magazine and our blog, Vita Brevis. Most recently, Sheilagh has been working to uncover the names and identities of enslaved individuals as a part of the 10 Million Names Project. Sheilagh holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her specialties include colonial New England, New Netherland, Ireland, Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Quebec, Scandinavia, and African American research.[View all posts by Sheilagh Doerfler →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/sdoerfler) [← Adams, Adamses, Adams’s](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/03/adams-adamses-adamss) [An Unexpected Discovery in Family Documents →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/03/an-unexpected-discovery-in-family-documents) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? 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