Parents names in illegitimate children’s baptism records

Anyone who has spent time in Norwegian parish registers knows that the layout of a baptism entry is not always as straightforward as we might wish. This becomes particularly evident in records of children born outside marriage.

The problems occur mainly in the church books, which have no preprinted forms (mainly pre 1812). For example, when looking for parents’ names in illegitimate children’s baptism records, the minister was pretty much free to record the information he saw fit.

We are used to seeing the mother’s name clearly, and sometimes the father’s as well, at the beginning of the record.

We see an example in the record at the top of this page:

Førde sokneprestembete, AV/SAB-A-79901/H/Haa/Haaa/L0001: Parish register (official) no. A 1, 1720-1727, p. 156 Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070227240487

April 21. 1722 an uægte barn – “illegitimate child” called Brithe is born to “pater” – father Rognal Larsen Furevigen and “Matr” – mother Ane Siursdatter. Then the witnesses are listed.

In some entries, we find the mother’s name and the child’s name first, then the names of the witnesses. At the end, the father’s name is listed. We see an example here at the top left page:

Sigdal kirkebøker, AV/SAKO-A-245/F/Fa/L0002: Parish register (official) no. I 2, 1778-1792, p. 181-182
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070312630254

March 20. (1778) Baptised Dorthe Zacariasdatter’s illegitimate child Anne. Then the witnesses are listed. At the end we find the father Ole Rejersen Watnaas.

In several entries, the structure takes a different turn. The child’s name is written first, then the sponsors are listed in careful order. Only after the witnesses—sometimes at the very end, we find the names of the parents.

The clerk may record the sponsors and then quietly add the parents’ names afterward, marking the child as “uægte.” The placement can feel like an afterthought, but may reflects how the matter was treated socially: acknowledged, yet not given the same formal prominence as a legitimate birth. We see an example of this here when the boy Finkl (Finkel) is born to unmarried parents Ingebor Stephansdatter Brækken and Finkel Knudsen Gryte.

Then there are the entries where the parents are not mentioned at all. No explanatory note. No named father. For the genealogist, this can be frustrating. But even silence tells us something. It may point to uncertainty, dispute, local discretion, or simply the clerk’s own habits.

Tysnes sokneprestembete, AV/SAB-A-78601/H/Haa: Parish register (official) no. A 1, 1723-1731, p. 80
Quick link: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/kb20070521650172

While we’re talking about illegitimate children’s baptism, there are also several records that does not list any witnesses.

The lesson is an old and reliable one: read every line, all the way to the end—and notice what is missing as carefully as what is present. In these old books, placement matters. So does omission.