Danish Names - What do you think...and can you say them

[letsgorunning]

DH is Danish, I'm not (but lived there for over a decade, speak danish fluently, that is what we speak at home etc)
We have 2 months to go, but what do you think of these (we have tried to go for ones that fit into English okay - we think)
haven't included pronounciations on purpose

Boys
Axel
Casper
Bent
Mikkel
Niels
Søren
Mads

Girls
Mette
Helle
Astrid
Sofie
Maja
Bodil
Dorete
Asta

[ShoutyHamster]

Lovely!

Niels or Søren - Søren fave I think
Mette or Sofie - Mette fave on grounds of Sophie being so popular here.

All great though. Danish names are lovely :)

[DigOfTheStump]

Boys
Axel - nice
Casper - very nice, though I would spell Caspar
Bent - no, too much teasing potential if ever you are UK based
Mikkel - nice
Niels - nice
Søren -nice
Mads - no, again teasing potential

Girls
Mette - looks pretty, don't know how to say it
Helle - no, looks like Hellish to me
Astrid - nice, though a bit 70s
Sofie - nice, though if ever UK based she will have to spell it always
Maja - nice, though prefer Marja or Marta
Bodil - don't know how to say it, instantly (geddit?) thought Bovril.
Dorete - not sure how to say it, bit too Doreen for my taste
Asta - Don't know how to say it, I would probably read it as Astra.

[margerykemp]

astrid is one of the best names ever!

[fluffles]

my gut reactions?

Boys
Axel - hmm
Casper - the friendly ghost
Bent - no, just no
Mikkel - not sure... is it pronounced mick-ell as it looks?
Niels - nice
Søren - nice but the non-english letter could be a pain
Mads - sounds like short for madelein to me

Girls
Mette - ok
Helle - is it pronounced helly?
Astrid - nice
Sofie - nice
Maja - very nice, assume it's pronounced maia?
Bodil - ok
Dorete - not a fan
Asta - not a fan either...

[tyler80]

"Mikkel - not sure... is it pronounced mick-ell as it looks"

No, it's really hard to explain the pronunciation. It's almost said as one syllable rather than two and the k sound in the middle is one that I think is hard for English speakers to get right.

[RitaMorgan]

I think English speakers would struggle with Helle and Mette - we just don't have that "eh" on the end sound. It would either be Hell and Mett or Hellie and Mettie.

[RitaMorgan]

I'd say Caspar works best in English, love Soren too, and maybe Axel.

Sofie, Maja (possible pronunciation issue?) and Astrid are all lovely girls names in both languages.

[TheFarSide]

Can Bent be spelled Bengt? ("The Killing fan here"). Don't forget Troels, Theis, Pernille, Rie, ...

[SheWhoMustNotBeFlamed]

Got to be Viggo.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Oh, you're so lucky to get to use Scandi names. I love nearly all of these. I think my favourites are Soren and Mette. The only one I'm not so keen on is Sofie.

[highlystrung]

My sister's ex-husband was Danish and called Arne, always liked it. His brother was called Lars and he had two sisters called Nina and Ula. Lovely names, all of them.

[Paulaonline]

I like Niels for a boy and Maja for a girl

[winkle2]

I like Helle :)

[MerryMagdalene]

Caspar and Mikkel are nice. You cannot call a child living in the UK 'Bent'.

The girls names are very pretty.

[uphillbothways]

Boys
Axel - fine, pronounceable
Casper - fine also
Bent - definitely not
Mikkel - nice
Niels - nice
Søren - I think it would be pronounced very differently from the Danish way, there would definitely be two distinct syllables, but if you're happy with that I think it's ok. The 'ø' might cause panic...
Mads - not as bad as Bent but still a no.

Girls
Mette - I'm very good friends with a Mette. Everyone pronounces it Meh-ta. Getting anything closer to the Danish pronunciation is a lost cause. Also lots of spelling mistakes - Metta, Mehta, Meta, Metha - which she finds a pain.
Helle - Hell-uh would mutate into Hella I think - as for Mette the "uh" sound is not natural for English speakers. And then you have this to contend with.
Astrid - nice, would be pronounced with a hard D though.
Sofie - fine, would be pronounced like the English Sophie not So-fee-uh. Would always have to be spelt.
Maja - I think the English would have trouble pronouncing it. Their first attempt would be with a J sound like in 'juice'.
Bodil - would be pronounced "Bow-dil" or "Bodd-ill". You could try to enforce "Bore-dil" - closer to the Danish - but then the name starts with "bore" :(. Unfortunately close to 'B.O.' (body odour), 'libido' and 'dildo' - sorry to be so crude but I'm talking from experience, I know a Bodil living here and she hates her name.
Dorete - OK, again you would have to explain the last syllable needs to be pronounced, would probably turn into "Doreta" which isn't that bad.
Asta - fine.

Tbh, as a Dane living in England myself, I would try to go for a truly English name unless you live in a very multicultural area where it's common for everyone to have to explain their name. It becomes very, very wearing.

I think the jury's out on names like Sofie where they have a close English equivalent. Because your names so integral to your identity, it's quite hurtful when people get it wrong, not just acquaintances and the like, but friends. For example, the Mette I know has just received a thank you card for the hard work she's done volunteering somewhere for multiple years. They spelt her name wrong on the card - takes the gloss off it a bit. There's also the hassle of getting your name right when e.g. opening a bank account and then having to change it afterwards when the assistant hears "Sophie" and assumes s/he knows how to spell it.

There are lots of names that are common in both languages. Just looking at the boys and girls top 10... Isabella, Anna, Caroline, Emma, Sara, William, Noah, Lucas, Magnus, Victor, and Oscar could all be easily pronounced and spelt in England.

[PfftTheMagicDraco]

I know someone with a Sietske, I think it's lovely.

[kelly2000]

I love the name Mads (maybe influenced by the lovely mads mikklesen), but in the UK people would pronounce the D so his name would basicly be crazy.
Axel also sounds out there in English, and bent is a no-no.
I also loath the name Astrid (I loath and Astrid and incredibly immaturely I call her arse-skid, which probably says more about me than the actual name).
I like Søren, but it is a pain the neck getting documents in the UK with the correct spelling, they will just change it to Soren as English documentation i.e passports driving licenses, do not accomadate the extra vowels. If you registar the birth in the UK I would check they actually allow you to use Danish vowels on the birth certificate.

[Hope88]

I really like Soren and Maja (pronounced maya?).

[Karstan]

My OH is a Mikkel and I still cannot pronounce it correctly. We've been together six years

[Lonnie]

I can pronounce them all but then I am Danish

I love love love Søren ds didnt feel like one but dd3 is named Sørine for her middlename after my late grandfather.

I wouldnt do Sofie as the pronounciation is different in Danish and English

Mette is ok (My cousin is Mette laughs) I love Niels and I think it will be fine in the UK as people will need to learn now to say it and then it just sticks.
Ive never liked Mikkel so sorry

[grandtoadd]

For starters -how would you pronounce Copenhagen -the Danish way?

[Lonnie]

For starters -how would you pronounce Copenhagen -the Danish way?


the Danish dont say Copenhagen they say København I am awful at phoenetics but something like Kh ben Havn (the vn almost swallowed into each other)

btw OP if baby is getting born in the UK they do not have ø on their register we have a biroline accross the o for dd3's middle name on her birth certificate and I was/am still disapointed about it

[Karstan]

If you want to understand just how difficult Danish pronunciation can be look on youtube for rød grød med fløde

I am trying to get OH to teach my 2 year old (English speaking) niece this, then if she ever goes to Denmark she can really impress some people!

[talkingnonsense]

I like soren and maja- is maja prn mya?

[cory]

With names like Soren you just have to decide how much of a problem you think you/dc would have with it being mispronounced. I have two dcs with Scandinavian names; they've just had to learn not to be touchy about funny pronunciations; as far as they are concerned there are two pronunciations of their names, one English and one Swedish, and both are part of their identity. But then even dh can't pronounce my name, doesn't worry me in the least.