Genealogical Research in Sweden
Knowing the parish of origin is one of the most key pieces of information needed for research in Swedish records. Often, determining a locality is more difficult than adding four or five new generations once the location is known. Even though the parish is an ecclesiastical boundary, many civil records are also split upon these jurisdictional lines.
If the parish is unknown, research requirements will vary. Although emigration resources and a variety of records from families living in Sweden today can aid the researcher, interviews with family members and a careful search of all home sources are often the greatest help in finding clues to a more precise locality in Sweden. U.S. sources such as immigration records, naturalization, and even Swedish-American church records arel also of tremendous value.
One of the issues that adds complexity to Swedish immigrant research is patronymics or the derivation of surname from the father's first name and a suffix ending in either -dotter or -son. Swedish immigrants frequently changed this surname upon arrival in a new country - particularly the United States. Some felt it was important to Anglicize their name to assimilate into their new homeland better and sometimes the names were too difficult for their new neighbors and friends to manage. So, prior to using Swedish records, it is crucial to do enough research in the immigrant's new country to ascertain what his or her original Swedish name was. So, even if you have a place of birth, you may need to undertake a great deal of U.S. research to learn your Swedish immigrant's full Swedish name before you can begin effective research in Swedish sources. Bear in mind that not all Swedish immigrant families practiced this patronymic naming convention, but many did.
On this website, you can learn more about the basics of Swedish genealogy research including, learning about Swedish genealogy sources, various Swedish repositories, societies, and archives, naming traits and the Swedish language, place names and maps, and be introduced to some websites that are devoted to genealogical research in Sweden.
There exists a very nice 40-page reference guide on how to trace your immigrant Swedish ancestor, written by Nils William Olsson. It is available through the Consulate General of Sweden in New York. You can download the Tracing Your Swedish Ancestry booklet in pdf format. 
For Further Reading
Johansson, Carl-Erik. Cradled in Sweden. Revised ed. (Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, Inc., 1995). This is considered by many to be the “bible” of Swedish research, this book describes the various record sources in more detail, discusses sources not presented here, and includes information on each of the parishes, military divisions, probate districts, naming customs and more.
Thomsen, Finn A. Genealogical Guidebook and Atlas of Sweden, (Bountiful, UT: Thomsen’s Genealogical Center, 1998). This book includes basic knowledge required for Swedish genealogical research, maps of counties and provinces showing parishes, lists of parishes showing time period covered by parish registers and clerical surveys.
