Genealogy - Is there a connection between Sweden and Latvia? I've found my surname in both countries.?

Question

My family (which was Jewish) came from Latvia around 1886.
Another family with the same (uncommon) surname (which was Lutheran) came from Sweden about 1884.
I think that there were Jewish conversions to Christianity in Germany in late 1700s and that Sweden was a power on the continent around then.
Is there a chance that these two families are related?
Our surname is also a place name in Switzerland and Germany, so it is possible that the families were independantly named after the same place.
Any info on the Jewish to Lutheran angle?

Answer 1

Get a GOOD history book, not the ones used in schools, and you will soon learn that peoples in the old days moved a lot. That alone would account for an uncommon surname coming from 2 or more countries. Another reason is, people were free (then) to adopt any name they chose. Because that made it more difficult for authorities to chase people, they made it mandatory for people to use the father's name (Spain was different...).
The quickest, easiest way to see if the 2 families are related would be to have each submit to a DNA test.

Answer 2

The only way to know if the two families are connected is to build your family tree. Starting with yourself then going back.

The name in its self doesn't have a lot of meaning. When the Surname started in Latvia and Sweden they could of been nothing alike. Over time the names could of evolved independently into the same spelling.

Answer 3

You're assuming that names and religion are intricately linked in Europe. It's really not the case. There are three main sources from which people chose their surnames when the tradition began (which is less than 700 years ago), and Jews chose their names in the same way their Christian and Orthodox neighbors did.

Whether the families are related or not remains to be proven. My hunch is "no", the names developed in remote places independently of each other. Think about how many Smiths are in England and Kowalskis are in Poland. None of them are related unless one of the Kowalskis went to England and anglicized his name. The reason, simply enough, is that the name means the same thing (blacksmith) in both languages and people who were blacksmiths adopted the shortened version of the name to identify themselves.

But if you really want to research this, contact the Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park University. http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?northpark=Scandinavian.Scan_Main

We've had great luck getting Swedish history and genealogical information from them in recent years.

Answer 4

You discovered something that genealogist have known. The same surname can come from different countries. You never trace your grandfather's surname; you trace your grandfather's ancestry. The Scandinavian countries and the Baltic countries are very close in location.

Answer 5

It could also mean that there was a Norwegian in the woodpile.