Herrstedt Name Study

Surnames/tags: Herrstedt Härstedt Herstedt

About the Project

The Herrstedt Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Herrstedt name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Herrstedt name.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Herrstedt's), by time period (18th Century Herrstedt's), or by topic (Herrstedt DNA, Herrstedt Occupations, Herrstedt Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

Also see the related surnames and surname variants.

How to Join

To join the Herrstedt Name Study, first start out by browsing our current research pages to see if there is a specific study ongoing that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, post an introduction comment on the specific team page, and then dive right in!

If a research page does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the Name Study Coordinator: Antonia (Widenstedt) Reuvers for assistance.

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:

Research Pages

Here are some of the current research pages included in the study. I'll be working on them, and could use your help!

Membership

Related Surnames and Surname Variants

• Härstedt
• Herstedt

Origin

The original spelling of "Herrstedt" has been traced back to the early 1700's. It is probably based on the town name of Stora Herrestad in Skåne, Sweden; where the first person to take the name was Andreas Olufsson Herrstedt born in 1719. It is likely that Andreas took the Herrstedt name as a crafts name when he became a blacksmith, blacksmithing being a family profession handed down through the generations. Andreas father however was a farmer named Oluf Larsson, very little is known about him. In the 1800's it was more commonly spelt "Härstedt", this version of the name is the most common version in Sweden today. Herstedt is the Americanized version of the name, although it's rare, it does occurs in Sweden as well. The Härstedt emigrants settled mainly in Nebraska and Illinois.

Originally it was assumed to be two separate Herrstedt lineages in Sweden, one blacksmithing lineage and one soldier lineage. The blacksmith family originates from the parish of Stora Herrestad and the soldier family seems to have their roots in the parish of Östra Herrestad about 25 kilometers away. As the parish of Östra Herrestad was plagued by a fire that destroyed most of the 17th century records it has not been possible to prove a connection between these two families. Although following the descendants have come up with a curious detail about a blacksmith descendant living briefly with a soldier descendant which could indicate some sort of relation between the two.

There is also a prominent Härstedt family in western Skåne that was well known for their preachers, but this family has also proven difficult to link to the Stora Herrestad parish.

There are Herstedt descendants in Australia that seems to be of German descent and unlikely part of the Swedish lineage. Although it doesn't seem like there are anyone with this name still living in Germany based on the statistics below.

Statistics

How many people are known by the surnames? (Last update 2024)

Härstedt: 175 (Sweden: 164, Denmark: 10, Belgium: 1) Herstedt: 86 (USA: 79, Sweden 64) Herrstedt: 80 (Sweden: 65, Denmark: 17, Russia: 3, Moldova: 1) Harstedt: 61 (USA: 42, Australia: 12, Thailand: 4, England 2, Sweden 1)

Goals

• To add the Herrstedt Name Study tag to all Herrstedt, Härstedt and Herstedt profiles.
• To add localities to the different individuals to be able to trace Herrstedt births.
• To trace emigrating Herrstedts.
• Attempt to try to find a connection between the blacksmith lineage (largest tree) to the two sub trees for the soldier and priest lineages. Possibly with the help of DNA as paper trails seems to have gone cold.