Talk:Frederick Valdemar Erastus Peterson

If Fred Val is of Scandinavian descent (which I'm pretty sure he is), then you might want to consider the fact that Scandinavians in IB still use patronyms. Who was his father? If Peter, then it should be Petersen. The patronym should then be followed by a family name, which I suppose would be Erastus. So, assuming that his father's name is Peter, and his family name is Erastus, then his correct name should be Frederick Valdemar Petersen Erastus.

It could also be possible that Scandinavian immigrants to Louisianna were forced to abandon the use of patronyms because the immigration authorities in Louisianna did not recognize patronyms. The name Peterson could be a patronym that has become a family name in Louisianna. Or you could drop Peterson altogether and just use Erastus as the family name.

Boreanesia 02:46, 13 Feb 2005 (PST)

I have my doubts. Had he been born on SR territory and come to LA as an immigrant, he would probably have kept his patronymic. But since he was born in LA, I guess Louisiannan law would have applied to him, and so, no patronymic. Compare this to the situation of Russians and Ukrainians abroad: not only the patronymics get lost, but also the gender endings (which explains how you get crazy-sounding things like women named Tarkovsky etc.). IJzeren Jan 03:16, 13 Feb 2005 (PST)

I had a feeling that would be the case. But, like I hinted in my second paragraph above, what would be used as a last name in LA - the old patronym, or the old family name? You can't have both. Boreanesia 03:56, 13 Feb 2005 (PST)

Rather the old family name, if you ask me. But that's entirely up to Dan. IJzeren Jan 04:15, 13 Feb 2005 (PST)