{"id":7540,"date":"2020-01-10T13:18:40","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T18:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/?p=7540"},"modified":"2020-03-25T18:33:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T00:03:51","slug":"your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"surname\"
A map of the route taken by the Vikings which arrived in England from Denmark, Norway, and southern Sweden in 865. Photo by Hel-hama CC BY-SA 3.0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Digging into your family history<\/a>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your surname contains a wealth of information about your family line and an important starting point on your ancestral journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study headed by Alexandra Sanmark of the Centre of Nordic Studies<\/a> and the History Channel<\/a> reveals a list of 22 surnames names that are highly likely to contain Viking blood. And some might surprise you! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are the obvious ones like any name ending in -sen or -son (this was an early naming convention meaning ‘son of’. But also on the list are many Scottish names such as ‘McIvor’, and ‘McAvoy’. Check it out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Names ending in ‘sen’ or ‘son’<\/li>
  2. Roger(s)<\/li>
  3. Rogerson<\/li>
  4. Rendall<\/li>
  5. Love<\/li>
  6. Short<\/li>
  7. Tall<\/li>
  8. Wise<\/li>
  9. Long<\/li>
  10. Good (e.g. Goodman)<\/li>
  11. McLeod<\/li>
  12. McIvor<\/li>
  13. McAvoy<\/li>
  14. McAulay<\/li>
  15. Doyle<\/li>
  16. McDowell<\/li>
  17. MacAuliffe<\/li>
  18. Flett<\/li>
  19. Scarth<\/li>
  20. Linklater<\/li>
  21. Heddle<\/li>
  22. Halcro<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    To learn more about how these names made the top 22 and to learn some Viking history give this article over on Country Living<\/a> a read. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Is your last name on the list? Are you surprised? Comment below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about your family line and an important starting point on your ancestral journey. A new study headed by Alexandra Sanmark of the Centre of Nordic Studies and the History Channel reveals a list of 22 surnames names that are highly likely to contain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-our-radar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYour Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journo Travel Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JournoHQ\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ann Sokal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@journohq\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@journohq\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ann Sokal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ann Sokal\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6629d71d3e2d7fb629ed286c4fcc98e5\"},\"headline\":\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":206,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/surname-title-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"On Our Radar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/\",\"name\":\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/surname-title-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/surname-title-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/surname-title-1.jpeg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journo Travel Journal\",\"description\":\"Travel More, For Less, & Share It In A More Beautiful Way\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Journo Travel Journal\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/logo1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/logo1.png\",\"width\":484,\"height\":95,\"caption\":\"Journo Travel Journal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/JournoHQ\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/journohq\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.journohq.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6629d71d3e2d7fb629ed286c4fcc98e5\",\"name\":\"Ann Sokal\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ann Sokal\"},\"description\":\"Ann is a core member of the Journo team heading up design, support, and marketing with over a decade of experience in the industry. Equal parts homebody and explorer she has a deep love for art and culture, travel, and food.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/journohq.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!","description":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!","og_description":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/","og_site_name":"Journo Travel Journal","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JournoHQ\/","article_published_time":"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ann Sokal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@journohq","twitter_site":"@journohq","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ann Sokal","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/"},"author":{"name":"Ann Sokal","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6629d71d3e2d7fb629ed286c4fcc98e5"},"headline":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!","datePublished":"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/"},"wordCount":206,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg","articleSection":["On Our Radar"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/","url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/","name":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-01-10T18:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-26T00:03:51+00:00","description":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List! Digging into your family history? Your surname contains a wealth of information about...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/surname-title-1.jpeg","width":720,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/your-likely-to-have-viking-blood-if-your-surname-is-on-this-list\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Likely To Have Viking Blood If Your Surname Is On This List!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/","name":"Journo Travel Journal","description":"Travel More, For Less, & Share It In A More Beautiful Way","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Journo Travel Journal","url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo1.png","width":484,"height":95,"caption":"Journo Travel Journal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JournoHQ\/","https:\/\/x.com\/journohq"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6629d71d3e2d7fb629ed286c4fcc98e5","name":"Ann Sokal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/428feda1b90963e7b841727e9632947eda83a0ead13d5b94fd0d8263c8189dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ann Sokal"},"description":"Ann is a core member of the Journo team heading up design, support, and marketing with over a decade of experience in the industry. Equal parts homebody and explorer she has a deep love for art and culture, travel, and food.","sameAs":["https:\/\/journohq.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journohq.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}