With a little help from a Norwegian ancestry forum, my sister and I have managed to get a little further on the "Burdal mystery". The parents of Petter Burdal, my great grandpa, were not called Burdal at all. They were actually called Mathias Syversen and Eli Pedersdatter. Why not Burdal, you may ask? This is a question I have been asking over and over again. Especially since Petter wasn't the only one adopting this surname. It seems that all his siblings took this name as well. After searching through scanned church books, I have managed to find all marriages, births and confirmations(confirmation used to be a normal christian event for Norwegians. Today you can choose whether you want to do it the christian way, or the "human ethical" way. It is hard to explain, but it is registered).
In 1900, Agnethe Mathiasdatter was confirmed. The document also includes information about birthplace, parents, age and also where they are currently living. In 1900, Agnethe lived somewhere called "Burdal". Amazing, or what? The only problem is, this is the only time I have seen them live there. Before and after that, they are supposedly living somewhere else. Weird? Why on earth would all the children decide to take this name? It must have been a pretty damn good place to live if you are using it as a name. It is like...as if I called myself Sokna (the place I lived for about 18 years). Or now that I live in Sheffield, Lodge Moor, I could use some of that in my name?
Another thing this shows, is just how easy it was to change your name. You can't just take a name and use it as if it was yours. It seems like you could do that back then. Funny.
In 1900, Agnethe Mathiasdatter was confirmed. The document also includes information about birthplace, parents, age and also where they are currently living. In 1900, Agnethe lived somewhere called "Burdal". Amazing, or what? The only problem is, this is the only time I have seen them live there. Before and after that, they are supposedly living somewhere else. Weird? Why on earth would all the children decide to take this name? It must have been a pretty damn good place to live if you are using it as a name. It is like...as if I called myself Sokna (the place I lived for about 18 years). Or now that I live in Sheffield, Lodge Moor, I could use some of that in my name?
Another thing this shows, is just how easy it was to change your name. You can't just take a name and use it as if it was yours. It seems like you could do that back then. Funny.
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