The purpose of this thesis is to present the general features of field names from the early 17th century to 2012, and to investigate the continuity of such names and attempt to understand what factors are of importance when it comes to their continuity and disappearance. A general survey is conducted in two parishes, Almunge and Väddö, in Uppland, Sweden, with more detailed investigations covering the hamlets of Söderby and Ösby, in Almunge, and Södra Fjäll and Norrbyle, in Väddö. The theoretical framework of the thesis is based in dialogical theory and the theory of an onomasticon.

A total of 5,736 field names are examined and categorized in an onomastic analysis covering a number of angles: name elements, the semantics of generics and specifics, and name continuity. Field names exhibiting continuity, drawn from the four hamlets studied more closely, are also analysed in terms of non-onomastic factors: type of land, joint ownership, and location on the hamlet boundary. The study shows that a majority of field names are formed in the same way: with a specific denoting a natural or cultural feature and a generic indicating a type of farmland. Some variations over time may be noted: specifics describing location seem to be more common in the earlier periods, while those denoting settlements appear more often in later names. In general, it is not possible to speak of a strong continuity of field names. The names that do show continuity usually belong to the most general field-name types, although there is a tendency for names consisting of only one element or including a generic that does not denote land to have a better chance of surviving. The results of my study seem to indicate that both onomastic and non-onomastic factors are of importance when it comes to the survival of field names.