The name Mats Anderbok

About the name "Mats Anderbok"

My last name Anderbok is, as far as I know, unique. I invented it in the autumn of 1992, and it was registered by the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (Patent- och registreringsverket, PRV) on 2 March 1993. This means that no one else may use it, at least not in Sweden. The first part ander comes from the Greek word aner (genitive andros), 'man' or 'human being'. The second part bok is a tree (English beech) and is an old Germanic word. It also means the same as the English book, which originates from the tree name (compare the German Buch/Buche).

I used ander as the first part because my previous last name was Andersson, which is a patronymic derived from Anders, a frequent male first name in Sweden. I used bok as the second part because tree names are in accordance with Swidish name tradition and it can be written with the English alphabet (many Swedish names contain the letters å, ä and ö). I opted for the final name also because it sounds and looks good, and the beech is typical for the south of Sweden where I live, as opposed to the middle and north of Sweden where e.g. pine, fir and birch trees are more common.

My first name Mats is a short form of Mattias/Matteus. It corresponds to the English Matt (short for Matthew).