pääsuvut

Pääsuvut is a Finnish term used in genealogical contexts to refer to the main lines of descent within a family. The word combines pää, meaning head or main, with suvu(t) meaning lineages, and it denotes the principal branches that carry the family surname and continue the family line through successive generations. Pääsuvut are identified in genealogical research by tracing the earliest known ancestors who bear the family name and following the descendants who preserve that surname over time.

In practice, researchers associate a pääsuku with the lineage that maintains the surname and, in many cases, continuity of property, status, or social standing across generations. A family may have more than one main line if different branches maintained distinct surnames or estates, though such situations are relatively uncommon in ordinary surname histories and more typical in complex hereditary contexts.

Common sources for reconstructing pääsuvut include parish registers, tax and census records, land and estate documents, and church history materials. These records help establish a backbone for the main lines and are often supplemented by later civil registers and archive collections. With modern genealogy, DNA evidence can complement documentary research, but the concept of pääsuvut remains a structural way to organize family history around the principal surname-bearing lineage.

Today the term is used in Finnish genealogical writing and family history projects to describe the core branches that connect early ancestors to present-day descendants. It serves as a tool for understanding inheritance, house history, and the spread of surnames, while acknowledging that many families also maintain a variety of secondary, non-surname-bearing branches.