Gyllenhaal family

Gyllenhaal is the surname of a Swedish noble family descended from cavalry Lieutenant Nils Gunnarsson Haal (died 1680 or 1681), ennobled in 1652 with a change of surname to "Gyllenhaal".

Family name

The name "Gyllenhaal" originated from Nils Gunnarsson Gyllenhaal's father Gunne Olofsson Haal, who was from Hahlegården, a crown homestead in South Härene Parish in the county of Västergötland in West Sweden. Haal comes from the name of the farm estate "Hahlegården". In the Knighthood Letter, signed by Queen Christina, the family name was written in two different ways — first "Gyllenhahl" and then "Gyllenhaal". On the copperplate with his coat of arms now hanging in the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) in Stockholm it is spelled "Gyllenhahl". Such ambiguities are typical of the time; it would be several generations before Swedish spelling was more strictly regulated. The prefix Gyllen ("Golden") was the one most used when ennobling someone since the 16th century.

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, great-great grandson of the above-mentioned Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, quipped during an interview prior to the British premiere of Prince of Persia that his last name was pronounced "Yil-en-hoo-luh-hay", parodying Americans' difficulties with Swedish pronunciation.