# Does this Norwegian name mean what I think it does?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 27, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675 "2018-02-27T15:21:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675/1 "2018-02-27T15:21:12Z")

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There was an Olympic athlete name Nedregotten. I don’t know any Norwegian, but to me it looks like The Lower God or maybe Lesser.

He (and his partner) just belatedly won bronze medals in mixed double curling after the Russian pair was disqualified for using a banned drug.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675/2 "2018-02-27T20:01:02Z")

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“Nedre” does mean lower (think cognate with Nederland). I’m not sure what _gotten_ would mean. I’m guessing you’re think _Got_ = God in German, but it’s _Gud_ Norwegian.

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**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675/3 "2018-02-27T20:51:29Z")

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It’s probably just a place name originally. There’s a lake named Gottern close to the Swedish-Norwegian border.

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**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675/4 "2018-02-28T10:47:08Z")

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Just to add to the above - Nedre or Øvre/Over (nether/lower or upper) is usually affixed to placenames to indicate old farms that have been split in two. Most likely the surname is derived from a farm or homestead named Gotten (maybe by the lake, maybe someplace else), that at one point in time was split into upper and lower Gotten. Hence the name.

As for Gotten itself - it could maybe be derived from Swedish - Gøta (Goth) is a common name for both parts of Sweden and the tribes that originated there - but who knows 🙂

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**Author:** ![Senhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Senhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senhal)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-norwegian-name-mean-what-i-think-it-does/809675/5 "2018-02-28T22:58:58Z")

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_Nedre_ does indeed mean _Lower_, and occurs frequently when farms have been split (but there is, apparently, no corresponding _Øvregotten_). According to O. Rygh’s _[Norske Gaardnavne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norske_Gaardnavne)_ _Gotten_ comes from _gata_ ‘road’ - it’s possibly a definite dative plural form. (Incidentally, in Old Norse, ‘god’ was _goð_ or _guð_, and _ð_ generally became _d_ in modern Norwegian, not _t_ or _tt_.)