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Baby names

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Original poster

Freya, Freyja or Freja?

39 replies

FoleyHuck · 05/05/2024 19:53

Hi All

4 weeks until d-day and DH and I are driving ourselves mad trying to choose names.

For girls we had Edith, Matilda and Astrid on the shortlist but have been going back and forth on all of them. My current favourite of the 3 is Edith / Edie. I like the idea of Astrid more than I actually like the name I think. Matilda appeals because I loved the book when I was a young avid reader, and because it offers a lot of variant potential (Tilly, Tilda, Tilde, Matti etc).

We've now upped the confusion by adding Freya / Freja / Freyja to the list and it's fast growing on me, but I can't decide which would be the best spelling to use.

We live in Britain, but DH is Scandinavian, as is our surname.

Any thoughts please wise MNetters? I'm finding myself very jealous of people who knew their baby's name for certain early on! Let's not even mention that we don't know if baby is a girl or a boy, so this is only half the discussion!! Confused

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zingally · 30/05/2024 14:31

We nearly had a Freyja ourselves. Both of us have a bit of Scandi heritage going way back (I have a Swedish great-gran), but also we were deep in our era of watching Vikings on Amazon, and loved the idea of having a strong norse goddess name! It was certainly in our top 3-5 names.

HoHoHoliday · 30/05/2024 03:17

@FoleyHuck Surely any word or name is easy to write when you've practiced? I can imagine writing Freyja with a nice flow in joined up letters, with the y and j looping together.
Freyja would be my choice. If you like Edie and Astrid have you considered Ingrid? That's one of my favourites.

Firsttimebabymummy · 30/05/2024 02:26

Freya

Original poster
FoleyHuck · 29/05/2024 21:26

After I'd started this thread I followed a tip I'd found elsewhere and spent some time writing all our options out. Turns out that while we both prefer the look of Freyja it's horribly clunky to write down, so if we use the name we'll use Freya.

I'm glad I did that, or we might have gone with Freyja and then not handwritten it until after we'd registered the name!

OP posts:
mimiscards · 29/05/2024 21:18

Freya

Sundaysunshine21 · 11/05/2024 11:07

Go for the spelling you prefer. I think it’s a a very well known name so she’d only need to correct someone once if they weren’t sure.

Puffinshop · 10/05/2024 23:36

Though I quite agree it's prettier. And also looks more 'proper' to my biased eyes.

Puffinshop · 10/05/2024 23:31

Speaking from experience... most people in the UK will pronounce it correctly without issue. But they will spell it wrong almost always, even if you have specifically told them about it before.

It's fine for us because we used the default spelling for our country of residence so almost everyone in our daily lives can spell it right. But I think it would annoy the hell out of me in the UK and that's why I'd always recommend the default spelling for the place you actually live.

Bloom15 · 10/05/2024 22:01

I like Freya - it's a lovely name regardless

ButterflyBitch · 10/05/2024 21:58

Freya. Freyja and Freja you will get mispronunciations but if you’re happy to correct then go for it. My daughter’s name is mispronounced a lot and the only time it gets irritating is when people are too damn thick to remember how it’s pronounced. Most people will get it right after being corrected once but be prepared for people who are wilfully stupid.

spunkyOPP · 10/05/2024 21:52

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Original poster
FoleyHuck · 10/05/2024 21:26

We've chewed it over some more and are pretty set on the Old Norse Freyja, which we both think is prettier than Freya but not as likely to be pronounced wrong as Freja.

Spelling wise I think unless you go for something totally bulletproof (Sam, Tom, Jack, Eve?) you're inevitably going to be asked regularly anyway. My own first name is a common British name and ostensibly easy to spell / only has one spelling. I'm asked to confirm the spelling the majority of times I give my name to someone writing it down 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
SpringKitten · 10/05/2024 21:12

I think they are all beautiful names so I’m no help at all!

mactire · 10/05/2024 21:08

Going against the trend here but I would use whatever is most traditional in DH’s country. She will grow up immersed in British culture anyway, it’s nice to give that extra nod to the Scandi side.

Freyja and Freja are not difficult spellings anyway, if Brits can learn to cope with Kathryn/Catherine and Steven/Stephen then they’ll handle this one too.

Bel43 · 06/05/2024 19:07

FoleyHuck · 06/05/2024 18:54

@Bel43 We'd better give her a different surname too then as people fairly regularly comment on that!

As it happens we've ruled out Freja (if we use this name at all in the end) and will pick between the Old Norse and Anglicised versions.

FWIW DH has a very unusual spelling of a very well known name (even unusual for his heritage) and it doesn't cause him any particular hassle.

That’s nice for him, maybe perhaps people are more cautious of interrogating men? It’s not always the case that you have to give your surname so is not necessarily going to be the same issue.
I respect parents choosing whatever name they like if it is so important to them

Original poster
FoleyHuck · 06/05/2024 18:54

@Bel43 We'd better give her a different surname too then as people fairly regularly comment on that!

As it happens we've ruled out Freja (if we use this name at all in the end) and will pick between the Old Norse and Anglicised versions.

FWIW DH has a very unusual spelling of a very well known name (even unusual for his heritage) and it doesn't cause him any particular hassle.

OP posts:
SirChenjins · 06/05/2024 18:44

Spell it Freya - you live in the UK, you’re British and she will be too. She’ll have your DH’s surname to reflect her Scandi heritage on that side.

Bel43 · 06/05/2024 18:42

Summergarden · 05/05/2024 20:56

Unless you have plans to move to Scandinavia very soon, spell it Freya to save the poor girl from a lifetime of correcting people or contending with her name spelt and pronounced correctly.

Exactly, it’s not only correcting people on the spelling but being interrogated on your family tree by every random person you meet. I would much rather people took an interest in who I was, job, kids, hobbies etc rather than the always predictable ‘heritage’ just because of my name

Bel43 · 06/05/2024 18:37

If you go for Freya then I would just go for the usual spelling of the name in the UK (could understand if you were both Scandinavian) else it will be a constant hassle for her and tbh it comes across as a bit pretentious when parents do this for no significant reason

SprigatitoYouAndIKnow · 06/05/2024 17:54

Puffinshop · 06/05/2024 10:54

Yj is the most traditional spelling. It's spelt with yj in Old Norse and also modern Icelandic. It makes sense if you're familiar with the phonology. The 'ey' makes the long a sound and the 'j' makes the y sound.

I wouldn't use the Icelandic spelling for a Scandinavian/British child living in the UK though. OP, there is no common Scandinavian spelling or pronunciation so it would depend on the country. I wouldn't pick something at random. Use either the English spelling or the spelling from your DH's country - but English spelling is by far the most practical as this is what people will assume anyway.

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That's really interesting, thank you for explaining. Beautiful name.

Puffinshop · 06/05/2024 10:54

SprigatitoYouAndIKnow · 05/05/2024 20:09

Freja is the nicest I think. I don't understand why you would do "yj" as they are both "y" sounds in each country. It seems overdoing it. Also, many countries have the j being a y, so don't assume she will stay here when she grows up. If you even use the name of course.

Yj is the most traditional spelling. It's spelt with yj in Old Norse and also modern Icelandic. It makes sense if you're familiar with the phonology. The 'ey' makes the long a sound and the 'j' makes the y sound.

I wouldn't use the Icelandic spelling for a Scandinavian/British child living in the UK though. OP, there is no common Scandinavian spelling or pronunciation so it would depend on the country. I wouldn't pick something at random. Use either the English spelling or the spelling from your DH's country - but English spelling is by far the most practical as this is what people will assume anyway.

user1492757084 · 06/05/2024 05:29

Edith is the least Scandi, to me.

I love Astrid, Freja and Matilda.
Some nick names resemble Edie in sound - Astie, Idie,Tildy.

Do you like Erika, Anneka, Vreni or Brenda?

BoleynMemories13 · 06/05/2024 05:14

I'm always one to advise against different spellings just for the sake of it but, when it's to reflect their heritage, I think it's lovely to do so (and provides an obvious explanation for anyone who asks why it's spelt differently).

I"ve taught a Freyja who had Norwegian heritage. I actually prefer this spelling to Freja as other people are less likely to try to pronounce it with a hard 'juh' sound but, by having the j, it makes it instantly recognisable as a name from Scandinavian heritage.

Original poster
FoleyHuck · 05/05/2024 21:03

FlyingPizzaMonkey · 05/05/2024 20:49

Freya is soooo popular it will always be Freya in the U.K. Tbh it’s so common that would put me off. I love Edie (but not Edith).

Where we actually live (British Island but not UK) Freya has only been in the top 10 once in the last 10 years, and it was 9th, which equates to around 4 girls given the name that year, if that.

We're trying not to worry about popularity anyway. There's a boys name we like that's been in the top 10 for the last decade, but there's only one currently attends the 65 place, 3 months to 5 years nursery that we viewed recently (I asked out of curiosity as it was our front runner at the time!).

OP posts:
Summergarden · 05/05/2024 20:56

Unless you have plans to move to Scandinavia very soon, spell it Freya to save the poor girl from a lifetime of correcting people or contending with her name spelt and pronounced correctly.