{"id":10952,"date":"2026-04-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/?p=10952"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:44:35","slug":"parents-names-in-illegitimate-childrens-baptism-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/parents-names-in-illegitimate-childrens-baptism-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents names in illegitimate children’s baptism records"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

We are used to seeing the mother’s name clearly, and sometimes the father’s as well, at the beginning<\/strong> of the record.<\/p>\n

We see an example in the record at the top of this page:<\/p>\n

F\u00f8rde 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<\/a><\/p>\n

April 21. 1722 an u\u00e6gte barn – “illegitimate child” called Brithe is born to “pater” – father Rognal Larsen Furevigen and “Matr” – mother Ane Siursdatter. Then the witnesses are listed.<\/p>\n

\n

In some entries, we find the mother’s name and the child’s name first<\/strong>, 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:<\/p>\n

Sigdal kirkeb\u00f8ker, AV\/SAKO-A-245\/F\/Fa\/L0002: Parish register (official) no. I 2, 1778-1792, p. 181-182
\nQuick link: https:\/\/www.digitalarkivet.no\/kb20070312630254<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In several entries, the structure takes a different turn. The child\u2019s name is written first,<\/strong> then the sponsors are listed in careful order. Only after the witnesses\u2014sometimes at the very end, we find the names of the parents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The clerk may record the sponsors and then quietly add the parents\u2019 names afterward, marking the child as \u201cu\u00e6gte.\u201d 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 Br\u00e6kken and Finkel Knudsen Gryte.<\/p>\n

\n
Kirkebok for Vang prestegjeld 1809 – 1831\u00a0 <\/strong>https:\/\/goto.digitalarkivet.no\/kb20070621000328<\/a> (Found in the middle of the left page clearly marked “U\u00e6gte”)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

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\u2019s own habits.<\/p>\n

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

\n

While we’re talking about illegitimate children’s baptism, there are also several records that does not list any witnesses.<\/p>\n

The lesson is an old and reliable one: read every line, all the way to the end\u2014and notice what is missing as carefully as what is present. In these old books, placement matters. So does omission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has spent time in Norwegian parish registers knows that the layout of a baptism entry is not always<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":true,"datetime":"2026-04-10 11:00:00","platforms":[],"status":"pending_publication","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-norwegian-sources"],"yoast_head":"\nParent's Names in Illegitimate Children's Records - 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These registers were created as working records for the parish, written close to the events they describe, and they still function as the backbone of Norwegian historical \u201cvital\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norwegian Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Norwegian Sources","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/category\/norwegian-genealogy\/norwegian-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Norwegian church books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Norwegian-church-books.jpg?fit=457%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7097,"url":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/a-visit-from-the-bishop\/","url_meta":{"origin":10952,"position":2},"title":"A visit from the bishop","author":"Martin Roe Eidhammer","date":"November 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was recently asked to help interpret\u00a0a church record. This question appeared in the Facebook group\u00a0Norwegian-American Genealogy Help Here.\u00a0\u00a0The record in question was from Strinda parish in S\u00f8r-Tr\u00f8ndelag county. It showed the girl Nikoline Birgithe Grinsdatter leaving the parish bound for America. Here is the actual record: SAT, Ministerialprotokoller, klokkerb\u00f8ker\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norwegian Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Norwegian Sources","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/category\/norwegian-genealogy\/norwegian-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/uryddig-text.jpg?fit=719%2C234&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/uryddig-text.jpg?fit=719%2C234&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/uryddig-text.jpg?fit=719%2C234&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/uryddig-text.jpg?fit=719%2C234&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10463,"url":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-digitalarkivet\/","url_meta":{"origin":10952,"position":3},"title":"Introduction to the Digitalarkivet","author":"Martin Roe Eidhammer","date":"January 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"If you do family history in Norway, Digitalarkivet for Norwegian genealogy is one of the best places to start. It\u2019s Arkivverket\u2019s (the National Archives of Norway) public publishing platform for digitised and transcribed archive material, and it\u2019s free to use. What is Digitalarkivet? Think of Digitalarkivet as two things in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norwegian Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Norwegian Sources","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/category\/norwegian-genealogy\/norwegian-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Digitalarkiven-for-Norwegian-genealogy.jpg?fit=457%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":633,"url":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/how-to-read-gothic-handwriting-4-letters-to-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":10952,"position":4},"title":"How to read Gothic handwriting – 4 – Letters to words","author":"Martin Roe Eidhammer","date":"February 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In this installment I will look at some words that frequently appear in church records. I hope you have had a look at the previous installments of the quest into Gothic handwriting. If not, you find them starting here. In this post, I will explain how to read Gothic handwriting,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gothic handwriting"","block_context":{"text":"Gothic handwriting","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/category\/norwegian-genealogy\/gothic-handwriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/spring-1689754_640.jpg?fit=640%2C459&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/spring-1689754_640.jpg?fit=640%2C459&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/spring-1689754_640.jpg?fit=640%2C459&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2961,"url":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/how-i-record-norwegian-locations\/","url_meta":{"origin":10952,"position":5},"title":"How I record Norwegian locations","author":"Martin Roe Eidhammer","date":"October 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an article about how I record locations in my genealogy software. Also a little bit about dates. Before you start to read you might want to look at my article How I record person names. Note \"the three R's of recording\" You might also find some useful information\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norwegian concepts"","block_context":{"text":"Norwegian concepts","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/category\/norwegian-genealogy\/norwegian-concepts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/norway-954930_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/norway-954930_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/norway-954930_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10952"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11435,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10952\/revisions\/11435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}