A bit of silliness tonight.
We know from yDNA testing the Swanstroms might descend from a German Kruse family settled in Sweden. They, the Svanströms, lived relatively near a noble family named Crusebjörn. The Crusebjörn family’s original name was Kruse. They came from Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein to Sweden. When they were ennobled their name was changed from Kruse to Crusebjörn because there were already two Swedish noble families named Kruse.
The usual etymology given for Kruse is that it was “a descriptive German surname meaning ‘with curly hair,’ from the Middle High German krus, meaning ‘curly.'”
And björn of course is “bear.”
So, curly bear.
I’m in love with that image. I could have the etymology wrong, or I could have the translation wrong, and anyway there is no particular reason so far to imagine the Swanstroms are any more likely to be descended from the Crusebjörn family than any other Swedish Kruse family.
Still.
I had a polar bear fetish hanging from my rear view mirror. Now it’s hanging on the door to the balcony. I think I’ll keep an eye out for something a little more curly.
More Information
- “Kraus Surname” by Kimberly Powell, at ThoughtCo <www.thoughtco.com/>, updated March 4, 2018, retrieved May 4, 2020.
- “Kruse Surname” at Forbears <forebears.io/>, retrieved May 4, 2020. No pun intended.
- “Peter Kruse“, at Svenskt biografiskt lexikon <sok.riksarkivet.se/>, retrieved May 5, 2020.