Ekern is a Norwegian name. It was the name of the farm my family originated from in Norway. 'Ekern' means small farm with few acres. There were several farms named Ekern, my family's farm was in the East Gausdal region of Oppland county, just north of Lillehammer. The farm was part of a larger farm named 'Brudal' until Johann Olson married Ronnoug Jakobsdatter and received title to the farm and took the name EKERN. Johann and Ronnoug lived on the farm from 1851 until they emmigrated to the USA in 1857. At that time, they sold the farm to Ronnoug's brother, Amund Jakobson, and his wife, Randi Amundsdatter. Amund and Randi then took the name EKERN. The farm then remained in that family until the 1950s. I must thank my father along with Virgil Ferm and Gilbert Halverson, some distant cousins, for providing me with the bulk of this data.
Several other Ekern farms were found in Norway. One of these farms was near the village of Bardal just south of the Artic Circle. And there were at least three Ekern farms in the Biri area south of Lillehammer. Some of there emmigrants used the surname of Ekern as well.
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