Andersson, Pettersson no more?

In a quest to be more unique Swedes increasingly take new names, often made up. 

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  Feel like changing your name? Many Swedes are tired of being Andersson, Svensson and Johansson and want more unique names. Soon, because of a change in the name law, it will be easier to change your last name.

• Never before have the Swedish people changed names as often as they do now. Last year, the Patent-och registreringsverket (PRV or the Swedish Patent and Registration Office), received around 8,300 applications regarding a name change; the previous year they received 7,900. One reason for this is that more Swedes today want to be unique. Says Eva Brylle, a name researcher at Institutet för språk-och folkminnen (The Institute for Language and Folklore): ”People believe names are important and want to get away from the names ending in –son in order to become more unique.” Next year it will become even easier to change names. The new name law will mean that one is allowed to change to another last name if more than 2,000 people have that name. This is not allowed today, unless those with the name give their permission.