Census records in Sweden are part of the main church register. They’re called household examination rolls or clerical survey records (Husförhör). The records are a result of yearly examinations of every household in a parish that determined people’s knowledge of the catechism or Christian principles.

Use these records to track people from place to place in Sweden. When someone emigrated, records in this collection usually contain the date of emigration, but not the emigration destination.

This collection records details like name, occupation, date of birth, birth parish, and marriage. They also record when people moved to and from farms or crofts (land). Families are listed together, so you can easily find children or parents. Because the examination forms typically cover a 5-year period, you get interesting details about how the household changed over that time.

Searching the records

Search Household Surveys

You can search records primarily from Älvsborg, Kalmar, and Värmland (and a few from Göteborg och Bohus, Kronoberg, and Östergötland) for the years 1880 through 1893.

For other locations in Sweden, you can browse by location, record type, and date in Sweden, Church Records.

Translations of record categories

Personernas namn, stånd, embete, yrke och narings-fang (backstugu-, inhyses- och fattighjon), Nationalitet (om främmande), lyten (svarsinta, blinda, döfstrumma): person’s name, state, position and trade, occupation, profession (side-cottage-, lodge-, and poorhouse-inmates), nationality (if foreign), handicaps (intellectually disabled, blind, Deaf)
Födelse: birth
- År: year
- månad och dag: month and day
- Ort (Socken i län, stad): place (parish in county, city)
Äktenskap: marriage
- Gift: married
- Enkling eller enka: widow or widower
Koppor: Smallpox
Flyttat: moved
- Från (socken i län, stad eller pag. i Husförhörsboken): From (parish in county, city or page in Household examination book)
- År, månad och dag: Year, month and day
Inflyttningsattestens nummer: moving in certificate number
Död: death
Läser innantill: read within
- Luthers Kateches (only a category in some records): Luther’s Catechism
- Förklaringen (only a category in some records): explanation
Kristendomskunskap (only a category in some records): Christian knowledge
Förstår: understanding
Bevistat förhör och begått H. H. Nattvard: Attended examination and received Holy Communion
- F.: examination
- N.: Holy Communion
Frägd och enskilda anteckningar: character and individual remarks
Flyttat: moved
- till (socken i län, stad eller pag. i Husförhörsboken): to (parish in county, city or page in Household examination book)
- År, månad och dag: year, month, and day
Utflyttningsattestens nummer: moving out certificate number

Translations of common abbreviations

D. or dtr. or dotter: daughter
do: ditto
Dr. or dräng: male farmhand
f.d. or före detta: former
Hn. or hustrun: wife
M. or mannen: the man
Pig. or piga: woman farmhand
S. or sonen: son

Next steps

Use your ancestor’s immigration dates to locate people in these collections:

If you found information about vital events in the household records, use that information to find or validate information about the births, marriages, and deaths in Sweden, Church Records.