By Svante Strandberg
In: Ortnamnssällskapets i Uppsala årsskrift 2021
Summary
Gersnäs is a farm in the Södermanland town of Katrineholm (formerly in Stora Malm parish). The final element of its name, –näs, refers to the fact that the settlement is situated on a headland projecting into Lake Näsnaren.
The first element of Gersnäs was written in various ways in early sources, including gærse– (1424), girs– (1554) and Gers– (1559). The author attempts to identify an original form that would be phonologically compatible with these different spellings. He is primarily inclined to trace Gers– to an earlier form *gair-, corresponding to geir- in OWScand. geirr ‘spear’ and to ger– in OSw. gere ‘wedge-shaped piece of land’. In interpreting the name, he considers the possibility of Gers– deriving from the personal name Ger, but also from a place-name or appellative in ger-, referring to a bay by the headland.