Swedish Genealogy and How to Begin Confidently

Written by Tiffany on August 6, 2021. Posted in Sweden.

Hello everyone! Today and for the next few months we’re going to be talking about Swedish genealogy! I must confess that I love this country and its records. I personally don’t have any Swedish ancestry, however, when I studied this section in my college classes, I always looked forward to learning more about it. Sweden has a little bit different record keeping system that can be confusing if you’re just starting out, but once you understand it, it can be really fun!

So how do you find you’re Swedish ancestors? Where do you start? What’s the next step?

Where and how do you start?

girl with a bored look on her face and white background

I wrote an article sometime ago that I will post a link to here that talked about a checklist to follow for any Scandinavian country. First, you start with what you know. Then you ask family members for all of the information that they know. Try to find old photos, stories, newspaper articles, obituaries, etc. that your family might already have. Then you build from there.

You need to go onto Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org to find all of the American records that you can about your ancestor. This includes census records, newspaper articles, obituaries, immigration records, military records, birth, marriage, death records, etc. Don’t stop searching these records until you feel that you’ve exhausted your search.

Once you’ve found those records, there should be a place name on one or more of those records that tells you about you’re ancestor’s original Swedish residence. Be careful because they didn’t always put their exact farm or city. They sometimes were vague because it was easier information to record. So take the time to Google that place name to see what it is and the history behind it.

The Next Step in your Swedish Genealogy Search

woman thinking about something with her head tilted to one side and looking off into space against white background

I will be talking about this in more detail in later articles, but after you have a place name, then go to FamilySearch.org/wiki to find the genealogical history of that place. Type in the place name in the upper right search bar and see what it brings up. How were the records kept? Was it a city or a farm because they kept records differently. Were the parishes divided and where were the records kept before or after the divide?

I would highly recommend you take the time to read any familysearch articles on Swedish genealogy because it will all help in your search for your ancestor. Plus, it’s interesting information!

The Swedish Genealogy Website

Now comes the fun part of going to Sweden’s official website to look up original Swedish records! Now Sweden’s website is not free! If you want to research from the comfort of your own home, then you get to pay a monthly fee of around 45 dollars. Or you can go to your local Family History Center or the Family History Library in Utah and use their website for free. It’s up to you depending on how many Swedish ancestors you have. I just worked with a client that I didn’t know had Swedish ancestry until I did the research on his Norwegian line. I found that Swedes married into his Norwegian line. So if he wants more work done on his family, then we would have to use the Swedish website.

Again, just like Norway, you’ll find the information that you need from searching church and census records. In Sweden’s case, census records are actually called Household Examination records. They don’t have formal census records. Therefore, I will talk about them in future articles.

Last but not Least-Research Log

incandescent light bulb lying on a rectangle chalkboard with a though bubble drawn on it

Record everything in your notes. I use what’s called a Research Log or Calendar to track my progress. I put where I go, what I’m looking for, when I looked for it, and what did I find. This helps me keep track of my journey so I don’t duplicate my searches. It also helps me look back to see where I’ve left off if I can’t get back to my research for a few days. It also helps me look at the records again for new information. This is a crucial step. I’m updating my research log as I find new records or whenever I do a new search.