How many Agrells?
Agrell is not a common name. There are only 299 persons named Agrell resident in Sweden, according to SCB, Jan. 2017. In addition, there are an unknown but small number of Agrells in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and Denmark. Those I have been in contact with have all Swedish ancestry.
One might ask if everyone named Agrell is related to each other. The answer is no, at least not through the name Agrell.
In order to know that two Agrell families are distinct, one must know the root of at least the younger of the families. The root is a person named Agrell, who have no older relative with the same name. For the following Agrell families, the roots are known. I.e., we know who took the name, and can therefore say with some credibility that these families are not related to each other.
- Our family traces its roots to its origin to Johannes Agrelius (1663–1724), whose sons Johan and Jonas were named Agrell. We do not know if Johan and Jonas were born Agrell or took the name later.
- The engineer Carl Linus Agrell was born 1864 i Varberg. His father was the mill owner Jönsson and his mother was named Andersdoter. (Source: A. Angare, personal communication, 2009.)
- The brothers Oskar and Axel Ericson from Linköping took the name Agrell in 1898, when Oskar entered Uppsala University to study theology. The children of their brother Emil also took the name Agrell later, although Emil himself did not. (Source: H. Agrell, personal communication, 2000−2009.)
There are many, many fragments of family trees involving the name Agrell, with no known connection to the above families. We will here list only some of the oldest known Agrell families. The roots are unknown for any of these families, and hence it is also not known if they are related to each other. We can say almost certainly, however, that they are not related to the three Agrell families listed above, which all have younger roots. Hence, there are at least four unrelated family trees carrying the name Agrell, probably more.
- Nils Nilsson Agrell, 1656−92, vicar in Torup and Kinnared (Source: M. Bäckmark, Anbytarforum 1999.)
- Hallsten Birgersson Agrell (Halstenus Birgeri Agrell), born 1657 in Frykerud, vicar in Kroppa. Married to Catharina Eriksdotter Edberg. Children: Catharina Agrell, born 1689 in Lungsund, and Jonas, died 1716. (Source: P. Funke, Anbytarforum 1999, G. Jonsson, Anbytarforum 2007, and B. Beermann, personal communication, 2013.)
- Jonas Agrell, born 1669 in Flo, vicar in Bunkeflo. Married to Maria Bäck. (Source: K. Persson and A. Thornberg, Anbytarforum 1999.)
- Barbara Agrell, Stockholm, was married to the clergyman Andr Nic Blidberg, 1672−1721, who was commissioned to Odh in Västergötland in 1700. Or, according to a later note by the same source, Barbro (Barbara) Agrell married Christopher Andersson Blidberg in 1697 in Hagby, Uppsala. (Source: M. Mattsson, Anbytarforum 2000.)
- Nicolaus Petri Agrell, died 1681, mayor of Varberg. Father of the vicar Nils Nilsson Agrell and grandfather of the military clergyman Sven Agrell, who is known through his published diaries from his service in the army of king Karl XII. (Source: Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 1, 1918.)
- Hans Agrell, born 1688. Married to (1) Horberg and (2) Pravitz. Son of Jöns Staffansson, born 1628, whose father Staffan (possibly clergyman?) was born 1575. This Staffan is related to the above mentioned vicar Jonas Agrell in Bunkeflo, via a common ancestor in the 16th century. (Source: A. Thornberg, Anbytarforum 1999.)
We would welcome information about other Agrell families, in particular the oldest Agrells (before 1700) and Agrell families whose roots are known (who took the name?). Some Agrell families are mentioned in genealogical literature, such as Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, 1918, but the origin of the name Agrell is in their cases not known.