This thesis deals with place-names in the southern part of the municipality of Skellefteå in the province of Västerbotten, more precisely the parishes of Bureå, Burträsk and Lövånger. It consists of three different sections, first a survey of the settlement names in each parish, then a section on the second elements in these place-names, and finally a study of names of more recent settlements. The earliest place-names here are names like Blacke, Bureå, Bäck, Kräkånger and Lövånger. The second elements in the names from the medieval expansion period are mark, böle, byn, träsk, sjön and vattnet. Placenames of Nordic, Sami and Finnish origin are found in Skellefteå. The name Lossmen has its origin in Ume Sami and was then borrowed into Finnish. Originally Sami names are Gorkuträsk, Jäppnästjärnliden, Lubboträsk, Sittuträsk and Tavträskliden. The thesis consists of interpretations of the names on parishes, villages, farms and summer pastures, and in Bureå and Lövånger also the names of seasonal fishing stations. The second major section deals with the second elements included in village names, alternative village names, names of parts of villages and farm names. Here the second elements in place-names in Bureå, Burträsk and Lövånger are accounted for, as are the names in the parishes of Byske, Jörn and Skellefteå. This is followed by a discussion of the second elements in Västerbotten and quite often in other parts of Norrland as well. The third major section consists of an analysis of the names of recent settlements in the area. These were established from the 1730s and up to 1870. Founding settlements was a way of providing livelihoods for a rapidly growing population. The study comprises 726 names, of which 269 are in the primary area of investigation, the parishes of Bureå, Burträsk and Lövånger. Extensive comparisons are made continually with conditions in the parishes of Byske, Jörn and Skellefteå in the northern area. The aim of the study is to determine in greater detail what characterises the names of more recent settlements in the municipality of Skellefteå in terms of categories of settlement names, their frequency and distribution within the area. A comparison is also made between Skellefteå and the municipality of Vännäs (Hagervall 1986). One of Hagervall’s findings is that many names are not based on existing features. This thesis shows, however, hardly any cases of stereotype naming in Västerbotten and that in nearly all cases the names refer to features.

The thesis consists of the following papers: (1) Tre ortnamn på Spöl-. (Tre Kulturer. 2. Medlemsbokför Johan Nordlander-sällskapet tillägnad minnet av Roland Otterbjörk 1925-1984. Umeå 1985. ISSN 0281-9546.) (2) Ortnamnen i Västerbottens län. Del 14, Vännäs kommun, A Bebyggelsenamn. Umeå 1986. ISBN 91-86372-10-6. (Övre Norrlands ortnamn. ISSN 0348-7237.) (3) Studier över yngre nybyggesnamn i Västerbottens län, särskilt i Vännäs socken. Umeå 1986. ISBN 91-7174-237-9. (Nordsvenska. 2. Skrifter utgivna av Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Umeå uni­versitet. ISSN 0282-7182.) The chief aim of the thesis is to describe and etymologize the habitative names in the parish of Vännäs in the county of Västerbotten, northern Sweden. The material used consists of place-name forms recorded in the local dialects. The material forms the basis of the author's hypotheses concerning sound changes and morphological changes and the original significance of the various place-names. The hypotheses have been tested by confronting them with historical data concerning the settlement of the area, with linguistic material, with parallel place-names and with topographical data. The purpose of the third paper is to draw further conclusions about the naming of the younger settlements (i.e. settlements from the 18th and the 19th centuries) in the county of Västerbotten as a whole. To shed light on this problem a large number of similar younger habitative names in the area have been examined. The main result of this study is that a number of the second elements of these names can be considered topographically non-motivated and suffixlike. Another result is that the interference from the authorities concerning the direct naming of the young settlements is pro­bably insignificant. / digitalisering@umu