A christening is infant baptism. Children in Scandinavia and most of the Christian world were brought to the church as infants to be baptized as a way to find relief from original sin. Our ancestors’ christenings typically took place within weeks of birth. Sometimes a child was christened at home before being christened publicly in the church. This could be due to a few reasons:
- The child was deemed sickly or likely to not survive until a public church christening could happen.
- It was the social culture at the time to quickly christen the child, then christen him/her again later in the church.
At the christening the infant was borne by the godmother (typically not the mother) to the christening font. The priest would sprinkle water on the infant’s head and say the christening prayer. The event was formally witnessed by individuals of importance to the family. Think of similar events in your family today and who you invite to be in attendance. These witnesses were usually grandparents, aunts or uncles to the infant.
As genealogists, we care about christenings because the records for the christening serve as the birth record for the child. Sometimes the christening record will state the date of birth, but a christening date works perfectly fine if no date of birth can be determined. If two christening dates are listed (one at home and one at the church), note both. I usually use the church christening date as the official christening date, but I always note both dates in my research notes. We also find information about parents in these records. And the witnesses/godparents should always be noted when the christening record is examined.
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