Photo: @nini.tjader.2014
My family name is Tjäder. No. Not Söder and not Ceder and not… well, never mind. I always have to spell my name when calling for a taxi or doing something which involves mentioning my name. When I lived in Israel I hade to go phonetical and wrote my name Scheder in hebrew as nobody understood it otherwise.
The picture above is a picture of the bird “Tjäder” which I shot at Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet. These are stuffed birds in a monter. Very well done. I have never seen the Tjäder live, in nature.
Tjäder is a soldiers name and was given to my great grandfather, Jöns Persson Tjäder. Link goes to a page on my website about him and his wife. It was common in those days to give guys in the army a new name if they had a very common family name. There are several families, not related, with the same family name as I. I even have a neighbor with the same family name. Discovered that when the postman left their mail in my postbox. It isn’t that common though.
When I was little and in school I wanted another family name. It was no fun to have a name like a bird. My classmates always made fun of it. But, you get used to it. Nowadays the only problem is that I always have to spell it.
The “Tjäder” is a large bird that lives in the woods. The female bird is smaller and brown. According to Wikipedia:
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The Western Capercaillie, also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie, is the largest member of the grouse family. The largest known specimen, recorded in captivity, had a weight of 7.2 kg.Scientific name: Tetrao urogallus——end of quote——
