Swedish provinces for genealogy

Most Swedish-American families remember the province their ancestors came from – Småland, Värmland, Dalarna. Sweden has 25 historical provinces (landskap) and about 2500 rural parishes. Here they all are, with the spellings you will meet in American records.

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Province, county and parish – what is the difference?

• Province (landskap). The 25 traditional regions. They have no administrative role today, but they are the identity many emigrants kept.
• County (län). The administrative region, given in many Swedish records and in American documents, for example “Kronobergs län”. Several counties were merged or renamed in 1997–1998.
• Parish (socken). The rural parish. Swedish church records are kept by parish, so this is the name you need.
• Congregation (församling). The church parish. Usually the same area as the socken; a town can have several.

Finding your ancestor’s home parish

Swedish records are kept by parish, so the parish (socken) is the key to everything. American documents often name it:

• Naturalization papers. The Declaration of Intention (after 1906) usually gives the place and date of birth.
• Death certificates and obituaries. They often name the parish, or at least the province.
• Swedish-American church records. Augustana Lutheran and other Swedish congregations often wrote down the home parish.
• The 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses. They give the year of immigration, which narrows the search in Swedish moving-out records.
• Passenger lists after 1906. They give the last place of residence in Sweden.
• Gravestones, letters and photographs. A photographer’s stamp on an old portrait often names a Swedish town.

Already have a family tree? Upload your GEDCOM file and the map shows every Swedish parish that is already in it – free up to five generations.

Where the church records are

Swedish church books – household examination rolls (husförhörslängder), birth, marriage and death records, and moving records – are photographed and online:

• The National Archives of Sweden (Riksarkivet) – free images of the church books, searchable by parish name.
• ArkivDigital – a subscription service with color photographs of the same books.
• FamilySearch – free indexes of many Swedish births, baptisms and marriages.

Parishes, coordinates and counties: Wikidata (CC0).