Abstract: Julbonden and Elvis. Names of bulls and oxen yesterday and today.

This paper gives an overview of individual names given to bulls and oxen in Sweden during the last 300 years. A large amount of names are preserved in estate inventories from the 1730’s and a century onwards, and the main part of the paper is devoted to this period. Most names in the older agrarian society were based on specific traits in the named animal; exterior characteristics, time of birth or place of origin. Several names were secondary loans from the mental lexicon, e.g. male titles. Very few personal names were bestowed to the animals, with the exception of names identical to soldiers’ names and dithematic surnames. The paper continues with an overview of the changes of names and name-giving practices during the late 19th century, a period when organized breeding begins to be documented in herd-books. More common personal names are used and names from other languages for imported animals make an entrance. The older name-stock of dithematic names related to the characteristics of a specific animal become irrelevant as the wish to show a bull’s heritage grows stronger and the bull gets named after his parents. This development continued during the 20th century, today the older names are almost non-existent.