Scandinavian names - help!

[malterserslover]

We are half British/half scandinavian family expecting 1st DC and struggling with potential names. We agree that we want a name that is pronounced relatively similarly in both places and does not seem too weird for either culture. So far we have come up with the following but not sure we LOVE any of them:

Girl:
Sienna
Matilda
Alissa
Sophia

Boy:
Elias
Sebastian

Anyone here who is familiar with scandinavia and could throw in some suggestions?? :-)

I have a Swedish ex called Hans, hmmm he was lovely.

Other scandinavian friends are
Jens (yens)
Christian
Janne (yar nay)
Edwin
Peter

Nancy
Petra
Daphne

The people I know are Scandinavian, not certain of the providence of the names but must certainly be used there.

no need for Ikea:

Swedish names: barnnamn.net/

most popular Norwegian names
boys: www.norskenavn.no/guttenavn.php
girls : www.norskenavn.no/jentenavn.php

most popular Danish names: www.baby-navne.dk/populaere-navne/

Isn't Astrid more like 'Estree' in Swedish?

Elias is popular in Norway. Others are:
Axel, Adam, Theo or Teo, Christian, Jonathan( pronounced Yonatan), Daniel, Oliver, Patrik, Markus, Matthias, Olav, Oskar, Mads, Mats, Max, Mikkel, Erik, Isak, August....
Pronounciation a bit different for a few of them in English/norwegian, spellings can differ.

Marcus, Ludvig, Victor, Lucas, Alexander, Gustav, Eric, Axel, Anton, Sebastian

Sandra, Linnea, Veronica, Alicia, Sophia, Anna, Elin, Filippa,

Just some of ds2's classmates ;)

Pontus is fabulous!
Love Saga as well.

Otto

I was just coming on to suggest Elinne and Linnea for girls but I see I've been beaten to it by MrsMills I've also seen Eveliina (Finnish) which I think sounds pretty but I don't know if I pronounce it right in my head!

Good point about ph v f!

Does not need to be scandinavian name exactly, just a name that is easy to pronounce and recognised there - we are not asking much, are we??!!

We also like Emma but it is already taken in the family!

Sophia is a classic.

Jenny?

Elizabeth/ Elisabeth
Rosalind
Camilla
Elsa

Charles
Erik
Tobias

All of these come from my Swedish heritage so I'm assuming that they work in both???

I think classic international names would work well:

Daniel
Christopher / Kris
Thomas
Peter

Victoria
Anna
Hanna / Hannah
Emma

There would be slight differences in pronunciation versus English, but at least they are instantly recognisable names which shouldn't cause problems.

Einar
Mikael

Why don't you go all out and choose Odd! My fave Scandi name of all time.

I am married to a Swede and here are some friends and family names that seem similar to me in both languages, Eva, Elsa, Astrid, Josefin, Susanne, Brigitte, Elisabet, Beatrice, Caroline, Catharine, Charlotte, Anna, Emily

Jonas, Jesper, Peter, Karl, Axel, Anders, Daniel, Christian

Erik. Very cute but grows up well too to suit teen and adult.

Elin
Emelie
Toril (I knew I woman called this, not sure if that is the correct spelling, it's just how it sounded).

Is Astrid really pronounced like Estree in Scandinavia?! That sounds so much nicer than the angliscised way!

For boys, Rickard. My friend's fiance is called Rickard. When she speaks english she calls him Richard. It always makes me smile that lots of people here will even translate their names

I love Astrid.

The Scandi/ UK couples I know have a Kasper, Lucy, Astrid and Soren between them.

I have an Eirik and a Caspar, we've had a fair amount of bother explaining how Eirik is pronounced though...

Swedish family member has a Tor, I love that name...

Boys:
Lars (I really like this - I know it's not very English though)
Anton
Martin
Stefan
Niels
Peder/ Peter
Troy

Girls:
Hege (I think it sounds cute in English too)
Heidi
Karina
Caroline
Sara
Katrine
Maria
Pia
Anja / Anya
Anne
Charlotte

Lisa, Maria, Esme, Matilda - boys names are so much harder!

I have a uber Scandinavian name that no one has ever been able to pronounce correctly unless they are fluent in a Scandinavian language. People try, and I appreciate the effort, but it's not always possible to teach people to pronounce names 'properly'. You are doing your future baby a great service, taking the time to find a name that works in both places/ languages!

I once taught a boy whose mum was Swedish, his name was Ruben..