Surname Saturday - CHRISTENSEN

Surname Saturday

CHRISTENSEN

My mother's mother's mother was Jensene Marie NIELSEN, born in Denmark. As I reported in that Dec 2009 post, "This is my 'shortest line.' That has now been modified, as first reported recently in this July 31 Sentimental Sunday post. Following a series of discussions with our new found cousins in Denmark, we now have the names of both the parents of Jensene and of her husband, Lauritz SORENSEN, including maiden names in each case.

Today, we will share the brief information obtained on Jensene's father, Niels CHRISTENSEN (Kudsk).

At this point, a discussion of Scandinavian family name etymology is necessary. Heritable family names (surnames) were generally adopted rather late within Scandinavia. In Denmark, the most common Danish family name surnames are patronymic and end in -sen; in our case NIELSEN. [scroll down on the wikipedia reference to see the most common surnames in Denmark; NIELSEN is #2 and SORENSEN is #8].

So, Jensene Marie NIELSEN, my great-grandmother, had a father named Niels CHRISTENSEN. The 'Kudsk' at the end of his name, sometimes, in the record, means 'coachman' - to help distinguish who was being referenced. [In this case, my cousin shares: 'They took the name because back in 1743 his ancestor worked as a coachman for the Lord at Rodslet Manor, the job went from father to son and so on.]

Niels was born 19 Sep 1817, Hvorup parish, Aalborg, Denmark, and died 24 Mar 1867, Hvorup parish, Aalborg, Denmark.

He married Maren Kristine MORTENSDATTER. She was born 26 Jan 1823, Hvorup parish, Aalborg, Denmark and died 29 Mar 1915, Hvorup parish, Aalborg, Denmark.

They had 7 children (with known information):

1. Christen, b. 19 Dec 1846; d. 10 Nov 1865
2. Morten, b. 9 Sep 1848; d. 3 Dec 1931 - ancestor of my cousin in Denmark
3. Karen, b. 4 Aug 1850; d. unk
4. Jensene Marie, b. 20 Aug 1852; d. 1906 - my g-grandmother
5. Rebekka, b. 3 Apr 1856; d. 2 Dec 18676
6. Caroline, b. 23 Nov 1858; d. unk
7. Else Marie, b. 23 Jan 1864; d. 1924

NOTE: Based on this new information from Denmark, 3 surnames have been added to PAGE TWO of the blog listing my surnames through the 3rd Great-Grandparents.

Families are Forever!  ;-)