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Facts about Family Life

Families are very important in Norway.  This is shown through Norwegian history that traces back to the Viking times.  Most families tend to be small in size, and this is one reason why families are also very close.  Family members make frequent trips to visit relatives, along with going to special events such as weddings, christenings, confirmations, and funerals.  The standard of living in typical Norwegian families is very high, and because of this, many families characterize themselves as middle class.  It is common for Norwegians to have small cottages along the coast or in the mountains, and this house serves as a place for a weekend trip.  In the family, the husbands and wives usually consider themselves equal in authority, and they tend to emphasize shared responsibility in raising their children. 
   
Divorce

The types of families in Norway are changing.  Most children live with both their mother and their father in the traditional nuclear family for their entire childhood.  However, there is an increase in the occurrences of nontraditional families, such as extra-marital births, consensual unions, divorces, and stepfamilies.  Today, almost 50% of all children are born outside of marriages.    A great majority, between 5-10% of all children, are born to a single mother.  Overall, stepfamilies are the fastest growing type of family in Norway, and this usually consists of the mother and a stepfather.  The absence of the father is a hardship that faces Norwegian children each day.  However, it is growing more unusual for fathers not to keep in contact with their children.  This helps to ease the hardships of the absent father.  All of these children that are born outside of marriage are at an increased risk for future family dissolutions.         
      
More families are ending in divorce than ever before for several possible reasons.  The modernization of relationships in Norway changes how adults approach marriage.  Some would argue that Norwegians are becoming less committed to partnerships through cohabitations and consensual unions than through marriages.  This may also represent the emphasis on individualism in Norwegian society.  Another reason that adult relationships are resulting in fewer marriages is the generous welfare system.  The Norwegian welfare system sustains all mothers and their children even if they are a part of a consensual union, and therefore, women are not as reliant on marriage for support. 

Children's Names

There are many different methods that parents use to name their children in Norway.  These different methods create different meanings for the names.  Until the 20th century, many Norwegian families used a very traditional way of naming their children.  This system of naming involved a "patronymic" pattern, where the names of the children were taken from the name of their father.  Not only was the name of the father taken into consideration, but also the place they lived, their grandparents and other family members' names.  For girls in the 1800s, many were given masculine names with a feminie suffix.  Children's names also differed due to many factors, including regional differences.  Variation in names and naming consistancy occured because before the 1890s, there were no clear spelling rules or guidelines.

Every name has a meaning.  Some names are taken from biblical references, and they are altered a bit to fit the Norwegian language.  Other names come from Nordic history, and many of these old names have regained popularity recently.  In the 1700s, very few names were used, and the ones that were used were very traditional.  The number of first names has increased since then, but in every century, there have been more boy than girl names available. 

Here are the Top 10 most popular girl and boy first names, from the 1700s to the 1900s:   

Girl Names

1700s

%

1800s

%

1900s

%

Anna/Anne/Ane

12.4

Anna/Anne/Ane

9.3

Anna/Anne/Ane

2.7

Berit/Berte

7.1

Petra

3.2

Rut

1.6

Karen

6.6

Johanna/-e

2.9

Agnes

1.5

Ellen/Elen

6.2

Ellen/Elen

2.6

Margit

1.4

Maren

5.9

Hanna

2.3

Solveig

1.4

Kirsten

3.9

Olina/-e

2.1

Bjørg

1.3

Inger

3.7

Maria/-e

2.1

Elsa/-e

1.2

Marta/-e

3.6

Kristina/-e

2.1

Liv

1.2

Ingeborg

2.9

Karen

1.9

Jorun

1.2

Johanna/-e

2.6

Ingeborg

1.7

Mary

1.2

Boy Names

1700s

%

1800s

%

1900s

%

Peder

8.4

Ole/Ola

5.1

Arne

2.6

Ole/Ola

8.3

Johan

4.6

Gunnar

2.1

Hans

7.7

Hans

4.4

Kåre

2.0

Nils

7.6

Peder

4.1

Karl

1.8

Anders

4.4

Nils

4.1

Harald

1.7

Jakob

4.2

Karl

3.2

Ole/Ola

1.7

Lars

3.8

Petter/Peter

2.8

Olaf/-v

1.6

Jens

3.1

Andreas

2.8

Odd

1.6

Jon

3.1

Martin

1.9

Rolf

1.6

Paul/Pål

2.9

Kristian

1.8

Leif/-v

1.6


References
Clarke, Lynda and An-Magritt Jensen. 2004. "Children's Risk of Parental Break-Up: Norway and England/Wales Compared."   Acta Sociologica 47:51-69.

Jensen, An-Magritt, Anne Trine Kjorholt, Jens Qvortrup, Mona Sandbaek, Vegard Johansen, and Tonje Lauritzen.  2004. “Childhood and Generation in  Norway.”  Children’s Welfare in      Ageing Europe.  Vol.1:335-402.   Trondheim, Norway: Norwegian Centre for Child Research.

Moxnes, Kari. 2003. "Risk Factors in Divorce: Perceptions by the Children Involved." Childhood : 31-46.

MSN Encarta.  2006.  "Norway."  Retrieved April 24, 2006 (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761556517_4/Norway.html).

Slekt and Historie.  2006.  "Norwegian First Names."  Retrieved April 25, 2006 (http://www.borgos.nndata.no/1stnames.htm).