When John Nilsen was born on 4 February 1846, in Gransherad, Telemark, Norway, his father, Nils Johnsen, was 23 and his mother, Gro Andersdatter Urdalen, was 20. He married Ingebjor Olsdatter on 14 March 1875, in Gransherad, Telemark, Norway. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Gransherad, Bratsberg, Norway in 1846.
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First Norwegian-American newspaper was published in the Norwegian language. It was published in Wisconsin.
Birth year of Erik Werenskiold Norwegian painter and illustrator. He was especially known for his drawings of the Asbjørnsen and Moe fairytale collection.
Birth year of Sigrid Undset. Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Her best-known work is Kristin Lavransdatter.
Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Erik, Nils, Alf, Bjorn, Lars, Per, Nels, Anders, Bente, Tor, Arnfinn, Astrid. German Hans, Kurt, Ralf, Arnulf, Otto.
Norwegian: patronymic from the personal name Nils, a shortened form of Nikolaus. This form of the surname is also found in Denmark, but it is rare there. Compare Nelsen .
Altered form of Norwegian Nilssen, a variant of 1, and probably also of the Danish, Norwegian, or North German cognate Nielsen (compare Nilson ).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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