Sun Oct 12 2003 at 14:16:35
Originally, like many other European peoples, Danes used only personal names and patronymics. Thus, Peter son of Rasmus would usually bear the name Peter Rasmussen , the -sen particle being a drifted version of
søn ( son ). A daughter would use -datter instead.
The first people in Denmark to acquire actual family names were, unsurprisingly, the nobility. In 1526, King Frederik I decreed that, henceforth, all noble families were to bear a family name. Many of these families already had
de facto family names, based on the symbols on their coats of arms(e.g. Gyldenstjerne, Marsvin, Oxe, Munk, etc.), which had been in use for some time.