The Petersen Family

[Eva Elisabeth]

Hi Kathryn, just to clarify: I didn't mean these Petersens came from Denmark, but in any case this family name origined in Denmark. "Sen" is the Danish word for "son", in German "Sohn". The Germans, unlike the Scandinavian peoples, didn't have the tradition of naming sons after their father as a family name (the Swedish version is "son", Norwegian "sen" either), and quite often both: as a first and family name. In Germany names with "sen" occur almost only in the very north (which is where I live) due to Danish conquest and influence. Here live many Magnus Magnussens (= "Magnus, son of Magnus"), Hans Hansens, Knut Knutsens, Christian Christiansens, Andre Andresens, and, and, and...I would think Hannover is even too far south for this tradition, (and Darmstadt in any case), it's typical in Hamburg and further north.