I am trying to find family members from the Vaasa, Tjarlax or Narpes area of Finland by the last name of Sodergren. My great grandfather's name is Albinus Erik Sodergren (Hermans) b. 1879. He was a boat builder, shipbuilder, bar pilot and river navigator. He married Anna Elizabeth Grano, b. 1877.
The family changed their last name to Hermans when they arrived in the US in the early 1900's (he in 1903 and she in 1906), settling in Washington State. I have also been told that their last name had originally been Hermans before it was Sodergren.
My understanding of last names was that they took the name of the farm where they lived and worked.