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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Names that work in Danish and English

82 replies

BikeGeek · 29/12/2015 10:17

I've got a long time to decide but struggling on finding names that work in both languages

Criteria :
Pronunciation easy for both Brits and Danes
If a Danish name not too similar to any English name that it could be mistaken for.
No non-English letters

Not finding out sex so need girls and boys names

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Original poster
BikeGeek · 30/12/2015 14:22

Yes, was planning to avoid anything ending in e as results in an extra syllable in Danish.

At the moment I'm thinking sod it, I'm just going to go for a Welsh name instead Smile

OP posts:
AliAliAlium · 30/12/2015 14:07

Magnus - no! The pronounciation is very different in Danish and English (I like both, but they hardly seem like the same name to me).

I would go for Marianna before Marianne (and generally avoid names ending in an "e" in English if you want to avoid drastically different pronounciations), I think Danes will cope fine with "a" endings, but we would anglicise Danish "e" endings (e.g. Sophie - which to my mind is more like Sophi-a, although I know that the pronounciation isn't identical) becomes "Sophee" and loses the last syllable altogether).

ThinkAboutItTomorrow · 30/12/2015 13:53

Hannah / Hanne
Stefan
Jacob (yacob in Danish)
Annika

DannieDanDan · 30/12/2015 13:17

Adam, Daniel? Anna?

YouStillLookLikeAMovie · 30/12/2015 11:05

Bloody autocorrect. Yanick

YouStillLookLikeAMovie · 30/12/2015 11:04

The Danish people I know are called :

Malin
Ella
Pernille
Freya
Nina
Yank
Bjarne
Erik

harrietm87 · 30/12/2015 10:51

I know a Malin (half Swedish half Finnish) which I think is a gorgeous name and easy to pronounce here. Christopher for a boy?

Alisvolatpropiis · 30/12/2015 10:49

Caspar?

Sum314 · 30/12/2015 10:39

Marianne is lovely. It works in so many countries.

Helenluvsrob · 30/12/2015 10:38

Erik
Marianne

Hatethis22 · 30/12/2015 10:34

I have no idea if the Danish pronunciation and Google is being unhelpful. Are these any use?

Clara
Rosa
Magnus
Victor

EffieIsATrinket · 30/12/2015 10:17

Pernille
Nanna

Original poster
BikeGeek · 30/12/2015 10:15

Seems like every third female in the OHs family is Mette, so that one is ruled out.

Søren has the ø so would be a pain.

Getting some semblance of a short list together after looking at friends of Danish family on facebook, now just waiting for OH to say they're old lady/ old man names or similar

OP posts:
museumum · 30/12/2015 08:24

I love Katrin or the variants however they're pronounced.

Pipistrella · 30/12/2015 08:20

Soren tends to be said as 'sorren' in England whereas in Danish, as Søren, it sounds a bit like 'sern'.

It's a lovely name in Danish, it always makes me cringe a bit when it's anglicised.

mamadoc · 30/12/2015 00:58

I think it's a tough ask to find names that are pronounced just exactly the same and maybe doesn't matter too much.

My lovely Norwegian/ Danish friends have lived in the Uk for about 6 years, speak their own languages to one another but also perfect English. The DC go to bog standard primary with my boringly monolingual DC and their names are just their names.

Kim (male name and no pronunciation problem)

Reidun (I get this a bit wrong myself. I think it's a Rye not a Ray sound. I said it wrong for years and she was too kind to correct me)
Thora (they say too-ra. English folk pronounce it in an Anglicised fashion but DC seems happy with either
Signe ( gets Zena sometimes but most people get it right)
Solveig (surprisingly English people seem to get this right quite easily although not the spelling)

Lindt70Percent · 30/12/2015 00:43

I have a Danish friend called Mette. I (and everyone else I know) pronounce this Metta which I think is right! I think it's a lovely name.

leaningtoweroflego · 30/12/2015 00:41

I love Anouk.

Alisvolatpropiis · 30/12/2015 00:29

As I understand the Scandinavian languages, they can all understand each other when speaking their own?

I know of a Norwegian with a son called Dorian, so if that works in Norway it would probably work in Denmark?

chocoLit · 30/12/2015 00:22

Soren

zipzap · 30/12/2015 00:04

I like Carolina said caroleena

But also how about malene, josefine/josefina/Josephine or Fiona?

LittleMouseontheDairy · 29/12/2015 14:59

I have a friend (English) with a Danish husband and they also wanted to pick a name that was said more or less the same in both countries - and went for Isaac.

Lizziedripping1 · 29/12/2015 14:37

Danica?

Alexa? - not really Danish but my German friends chose it because they wanted a name that worked in both German and English

SwedishEdith · 29/12/2015 13:19

Per
Stefan
Tomas
Oscar

Monika
Helena

Lots that don't work though. Just spotted Bengt, Dick and Fanny in a FB friend's list.

BitOutOfPractice · 29/12/2015 13:10

Leo?