Collections of personal names

About 100,000 different girl's and boy's names and 150,000 family names are used in Denmark. The number changes constantly due to new names being approved and due to people moving in and out of the country.

The Name Research Section houses a number of personal name collections which together with source editions in the library, periodicals, encyclopaedias and printed name lists make up the only archive in Denmark where it is possible to study the occurrence of the names over time and to determine their meaning.

Old personal names of Denmark

The preparatory studies for the work Danmarks gamle Personnavne (Old Personal Names of Denmark) consist of a collection of more than 300,000 slips with names dating from the age of rune stones onwards to ca. 1500.

Modern names from the Civil Registration System (CPR)

Since the beginning of the 1970s the name material from the Civil Registration System has been the basis of a number of publications and the internet database Danskernes Navne (The Names of the Danes).

Approval of Names

Among other things the archives contain collections of slips and registrations of cases concerning approval of first names, so-called bought surnames and protected family names.