Ingrid, Svea or Sigrid (Swedish/ American parents)

Hello @SleeplessInStockholm! We have a Magnus and Linnea is number 1 on our list for a girl (I’m due in March). Stellan was on our boys’ list too. Other girls’ names we like are Alva, Ebba and Frida. Norwegian rather than Swedish heritage here :)

Not Saga, it has negative connotations
Not so much the over 50s holiday club but more something being drawn out or tedious

Is Hanna an option?

I like Sigrid and Linnea. For some reason Svea just isn't doing it for me.

I vote for Ingrid.

Others ..
Isotta
Sara
Hana
Estelle

Ingrid - perfectly lovely name but a bit maybe boring/the obvious choice. Which is fine if you want ease and simplicity, it's a lovely name.
Svea - I really like it, never heard it before, I think it 'sounds cool' too.
Sigrid - Sounds too much like Siegfried to me.

Liv - nice but it is also pronounced with a short 'e/i' in the UK as a nickname for Olivia. I know a couple.
Lena - Very pretty and fairly well known, to know it is pronounced Layna
Linnea - Meh, it's nice, but yea, not exciting.
Saga - Too weird in the UK, an over 50's holiday company isn't it? Or something like that! Or a long complex story (which comes from Norse of Swedish or something I think? Might be wrong!)

That's my opinion anyway. Congratulations, good luck, some great names to choose from.

Congrats on your babe!

I voted Sigrid out of your options but I don't think any of the given are stand-out names tbh.

Stella as a pp suggested is a great idea considering you liked Stellan. Or Steffi is sweet. You will get a bit of sssh/s confusion but it's a softer name than your current choices.

As a solid default and one that is popular and recognised across Europe, Lena is your choice. Or Lina (just to confuse more!)

Good luck!

I vote Ingrid. Very cool name!

Svea is nice once you confirmed how to say it, but honestly I first thought it was ‘Sv-ee’ rhyming with tree/tea/me

I like Ingrid, but I agree with your husband about the sound.

I think Linnea would work very well. I'm in the US and know two aged under ten.

However, I think Lena has everything going for it. It's a gorgeous name.

Otherwise:
Alma
Vera
Maria
Anna
Ebba
Alva
Stella
Marta

How about Lina? Not keen on the grids nor Saga or Liv.

We named our DD Ingrid for the first six weeks of her life, but then had a change of heart when we went to register her, and came home with a baby with a different name. But I do absolutely love the name. I sort of agree with your DH about the hard G. To my ears, it does make the name quite harsh, almost ugly. But that’s part of what I love about it. There are so many frilly, flowery, gentle sounding names around at the moment. Ingrid (and Sigrid) sound like they both mean business and wouldn’t tolerate much nonsense. I imagine a strong, educated woman bearing a name like this. I love Igraine too, but of course that’s not Swedish.

Swedish person here!

I voted for Sigrid. Liv is a beautiful name, too.

Frida?

Svea is pretty but I suspect many UK people will mispronounce it.

I like Sigrid but she is very likely to get nicknamed “Siggy”, which I think is cute but you might not (and yes, is slang for a cigarette).

Ingrid perhaps isn’t as interesting to the UK ear, but that’s because it’s more familiar (and I don’t think it sounds harsh personally).

Of your other options, I really love Linnea - it’s such a pretty sound and reasonably well known. Saga is super cool, but possibly might invite teasing when older (“Saggy”). Lena isn’t the easy choice you think it is - some here do pronounce it as “Leena” instead. Liv is cool, but won’t be pronounced the Swedish way (and many will assume it’s short for Olivia, as that’s so popular here).

i know an Ingrid who is called Inga.

i know a Lena but the pronunciation of that can be problematic with Lee-na, Lay-na and Len- ah

There are Ingrid in all countries (thanks to Bergman?). Personally I'm not a fan. Svea hard to pronounce and you don't want the far right connection. Can I suggest Alma? I only got boys and I'm done but would have loved to have a little Alma. It's an original name but easy to pronounce and it makes me think of an intelligent girl with character.

I used to like Greta as well but ofcourse everyone will think of Miss Thunberg. And it's a pain when a name gets too associated with a famous person. Although I would chose Greta over Melania every day 😅

Magnus and Svea sound great together too.

Ingrid is very on trend in the US I think (live there). Old fashioned names are “in” for middle and upper middle class families. I also know two girls named Linnea. I think I know a Sigrid.

Svea will get mangled here.

Lena will probably be mispronounced but some people might remember Lena Olin. In parts of the Midwest and PNW Scandinavian names are fairly common so it would depend where you are.

Absolutely love Svea now you’ve said how to pronounce it. It would only take telling people once. I’d go for that!

Also like Sigrid. Though… yeah, Siggie wouldn’t be a great nickname if that happened!

Love Linnea too.

Liv and Lena I think would be constantly mispronounced.

Saga I like but it is the oddest to English-speaking ears.

For some reason I just can’t like Ingrid. I class it with Heidi and find them both a bit home-spun and twee. That said, I knew a lovely Inge and she was a very classy lady. It’s not a bad name. Just a personal opinion. Shows you have to go with your own gut ultimately! People like what they like so individually.

I'm English but with a reasonable grasp of names and phonics in other European languages. I love Linnea and think this is much easier to get right than Lena, which I always want to pronounce 'Lyena' (the Russian pronunciation) or like 'Lenna'. I'm not familiar with Svea but agree with a poster above that the 'Sv' combination is a bit unnatural for native English speakers. Ingrid is better than Sigrid. Astrid better still IMO.

I love Ingrid. Sigrid sounds like a boys name. Choose Svea and you and dd (when older) will have a lifetime correcting misprounciations and
misspellings.

Not Saga. It’s an insurance company for the elderly

Also to add my DDs are half Swedish and one has a version of Lena and the other of Anna but British people always mispronounce their names (or spell them wrong if they can say them) 🫣 So, just go with what you like and don’t worry too much.

Swede here with UK dh. I love Linnea, Liv and Alma. I don't like Svea/Sigrid/Ingrid but that's just personal preferencep.

I can speak fairly competent Swedish but really struggle with the correct pronunciation of Liv! I love Linnéa and Saga. Svea is lovely but I would worry about the right-wing connotations if they ever want to live in Sweden. I’m not too keen on Ingrid or Sigrid, possibly because of the hard ‘g’ like your DH.

Congratulations! I actually like both Ingrid and Sigrid, and I wasn’t aware of any Nazi associations with either.

I do think Svea and Liv would both be problematic in English-speaking countries. I actually think Lena would be fine and I love Linnea, which is my favourite of all your names!