Pronouncing Scandinavian names - pet peeve

Yes, if we take an Icelandic feminine name (not Kersten!) it's the same process - put it in the genitive case and add -son or -dóttir. E.g. María gives Maríuson or Maríudóttir.

Yes, I use the Icelandic setting on my keyboard. It has a special accent key so you press that first, then the vowel and it appears with the accent. I can also do þ, ð, ö and æ without hassle Anyone can change the language settings for their keyboard as far as I know, but it won't match how the keys are labelled so could be tricky to work out!

On phones you can usually just hold down a letter to see a load of international variations.

'Some people have matronymics instead and a few people do have surnames'

Again, please pardon my ignorance - finding this fascinating, so you could have a boy called Magnus Kerstensson?
Completely unrelated - how are you putting the accents over the letters? I do not seem to have this facility. Are you using a Scandinavian/Nordic keyboard?

But it is THEIR name surely? Why do you feel entitled to insist on someones name being pronounced differently to how the name holder wants it pronounced. That is just bizarre.

Totally this. Imagine having the audacity to tell someone that they are pronouncing their own name wrong. Jesus wept.

I'm Swedish but live in London. My kids names are pronounced in English by their friends and dad and in Swedish by me and Swedish family. Never given it a second thought. We live in the UK!

Swede here. It is Shershtin. But spelt Kerstin

OP, you haven't addressed the fact many PPs have pointed out, which is that Scandinavians (not to mention Nordics) do not always agree about how to pronounce things. What with there being three different main Scandinavian languages.

If a Dane, a Swede and a Norwegian say things differently, are they allowed to correct each other? What happens if an Icelander and a Faroe Islander join the conversation? The English pronunciation of Freya is practically identical to Icelandic Freyja and I think therefore the English are saying it correctly and you are wrong! (Joking)

I have a boy and a girl and they have different last names for this reason! They have the traditional patronymics.

It's the father's name in the genitive case (which does not always mean adding an s!) plus -son for a boy and -dóttir for a girl. So Magnússon and Magnúsdóttir if the father is called Magnús. E.g. Kárason or Káradóttir if the father is called Kári. You have to have a grasp of the basic grammar to form them correctly.

Some people have matronymics instead and a few people do have surnames.

But he was Icelandic, where Magnús is pronounced Mag-noose. With a hard g.

Isn’t the British version just ass-trid? Where does the “tree” come from?

They haven’t “corrected” your pronounciation though, they’ve just stated their own preference. Most people would be thinking “gosh how interesting to hear the way it is said in Norway/Sweden/Denmark, but we’ve gone with the English adaptation.” Surely nobody actually says that you are wrong?

Amazing!! I want this to just be how everyone is named in future. 😂

I know. The English pronunciation is such a harsh way of pronouncing such a pretty name! I was going to be called Astrid but my parents wanted it to be pronounced in the Norwegian way which obviously wasn't going to happen in the UK.

My god this, why are people here denying this basic fact.

Skedaddle, that would make a good name.

Lets face it half the English language has alternative ways to pronounce things. I'm quite a visual person (BSL user) so when I hear the word 'cow' a Frisian cow pops in to my head, but if I hear 'coo' Iit's a highland cow.

OK people here is something to think about, in sign languages you have a 'sign name' it rarely has anything to so with your actual name and can relate to your job, something about you such as wearing glasses or having a piercing.

BUT if there is ever something embarrassing you have done that becomes your sign name. I have come across sign names that mean 'grave' an interpreter who slipped and almost fell into a grave. Wet Furniture - had too much beer and slept on the sofa, you can imagine how the name came about. My favorite 'toilet', there are a number of signs for 'toilet' but one of them is the same as the sign for belgium where this person is originally from.

I find people apostrophising plurals, especially names, equally as bad. It's Livs, Frejas, etc.

Thank you. As the Scottish mother of a Magnus I agree. Surely it‘s more likely that the Scandinavians are the ones who are pronouncing the original Latin word incorrectly, if they are transposing the N and the G in the way that @TooMuchRedMaybe dictates? In any event my Magnus’ own Norwegian grandfather does not say it that way, when speaking either English or Norwegian. His “g” is definitely softer than ours is in English, and the final syllable is “oos” rather than “us”but the letter order does not change.

A name is pronounced how the name bearer or their parent decides, not how a Scandinavian person would pronounce it.

Absolutely this. If someone chooses to call their child Robert but pronounce it Frank then Frank is the correct pronunciation (even if we might all privately think they are mad and that child’s life is going to be an endless stream of correcting people).

There are hundreds of names that started out in a different country being pronounced a different way. These names now have a new variant here (and often other variants in other countries). The variants are not wrong. It’s just not quite the same name as it is in your country.

So if a parent corrects your pronunciation they’re not wrong or rude, they are telling you the correct way to pronounce their child’s name.

How arrogant you are! A name is pronounced how tge name bearer or their parent decides, not how a Scandinavian person would pronounce it.

Yes it was Saoirse I was thinking of!

The problem is that there is no uniform Scandi way of saying names because there are differences between the 3 Scandi countries

It depends on what the traditions are for hard/soft vowels and consonants

For example - Kersten/Kerstin
Danish - Keer-stin or Kier-stin
Swedish - Sher-sten/Sher-stin

... then you get the regional variations in each country

.... and don't get me started on Oscar/Oskar/Åskar or Matilda/Mathilda/Matilde/ Mathilde

I guess that Scandinavians are known for their bluntness, which is clear from the indignation to my suggestion that the OP be could have been worded in a politer way. It’s also rude to make in-jokes in other languages.

But OP is not being at all patronising by insisting that other people are mispronouncing their own names?! Okaaay..

I meant that the owner of the name cannot be said to be pronouncing it incorrectly. Of course others can mispronounce it!