I have been told german, norwegian, and swedish before but I would like to know a more definate answer than a maybe. just curious. please help.
2006-09-01 10:29:49 · 7 answers · asked by we take to the breeze... 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
It is Danish, That name is in my family tree, Which has been traced back to Europe. In the 1600's my ancestors left Scandinavia for what would become America.
2006-09-01 10:40:37 · answer #1 · answered by Bear 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You probably already figured out it means the son of Gunder.
Gunder (spelled this way) is a a (not common, but not all that unusual) Swedish name, or a Norwegian one. It's a little old fashioned, not something most people would use these days, sort of like "Harry" or "Walter" maybe, in English. It's very old though, like those names, and has been around a long time.
It's _probably_ Norwegian, based on spelling; Norwegian names tend to have the suffix -son, Swedish names -sson, Danish names -sen. It's unlikely to be german, because the German spelling for the name would be with a t instead of a d.
However, in reality, it could easily be from any of these places. They often all got changed when people immigrated to english speaking countries, as people tried to simplify their names or had them written down phonetically by an immigrationagent. There's very many Anderson's of Swedish descent, for instance, even though Anderson and Andersson actually have slightly different pronunciation. There's also plenty of them who simply had a Norwegian grandfather, so the -s vs -ss -vs -se rule is certainly not hard evidence, just a clue.
So my guess: Most likely Norwegian or Swedish, entirely possibly German or Danish.
2006-09-01 14:05:43 · answer #2 · answered by Gullefjun 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not primarily Danish. Primary origin of the name is Norway, Sweden, Germany, and then Denmark.
2006-09-01 12:06:10 · answer #3 · answered by Desi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
based soley on the name itself, i would assume that it is derived from the words Gunter's Son. Gunter is a very common name in germany, and gunter is another word for gunner, or soldier, so it would be fairly safe to say that it is a german name for either Soldier's Son or Son of a Gun!
2006-09-01 10:33:31 · answer #4 · answered by Scott L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gunderson Meaning: the son of Gunder (war).
I say Norway only because its my last name and when I ask my family they say Norway.
2015-09-28 20:21:46 · answer #5 · answered by mike 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it comes from gunderdad
2006-09-01 10:37:16 · answer #6 · answered by mr.bill 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I GO WITH SCOTT, SOUNDS RIGHT TO ME
2006-09-04 07:00:53 · answer #7 · answered by perrisgal 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋