Espen or Leif? We can't make up our minds!

[PumpkinStar]

Hello,

Our baby boy doesn't have a proper name yet. We have practiced a few.

Our favourites are Espen and Leif.

Which would you go for? :)

Thank you!

Ooh. I think they're both lovely. Only flaw I could see with Espen if you're in the uk is having people think it is Aspen which is more familiar.
But I can't see anything wrong with either.

Espen sounds like a Kiwi saying Aspen, IMO.

But I like it more than Leif.

I think both are quite nice - are they Danish names? I'd say it depends which goes better with your surname really. They are both pretty phonetic so I would think either will be okay in the uk (though like many unusual or foreign names there will be a lot of spelling required. I have an unusual name and haven't really minded that too much).

We are originally from Norway :)

These are Scandinavian names and I think it would depend where you live. If you live in the UK I would try to find names which are not as foreign sounding if I am honest. Espen is ok. I associate Leif with an old man/my dads generation.

Espen sounds like someone saying Aspen incorrectly so your son may find himself correcting people all the time.

I like Leif- how Would you say it?

Oh isn't that funny, I see Leif as a little boy, but a little boy from a maybe 1940s book, so who would be an old man now!

Leif. Espen is nice but i know a very lovely Leif . I think its more adaptable to the english language both for pronouncing and it is more recognisable.

Espen is like ESPN, the sports channel. I like Leif much more. And so does my spell checker who changed Espen to especially three times.

I like Leif, it was on my list for this baby but we've gone with something different. Still like Leif though.

I love the name Leif. I have met a male and female with the name under different spellings recently. And think it works well in the U.K.

Espen for sure. Unless you want people spelling your childs name as Leaf for all eternity.
Espen is a lovely name.

Like both, but especially Leif. Congrats OP!

Do you live in the U.K.? Anyone with children who have read Roald Dahl's "The Witches" will be familiar with Leif.

Espen. It's the name of my secret, never to be born third DC!

Holy baby names, batman! ESPN as an actual name?!

I have a Norwegian friend called Espen and really wish I'd known him before I named my 2 DSs. It's a great name.

Espen, very nice, not heard it before.

I'm Norwegian, and both these names are very common. Leif is common for men in their 60s+, whereas Espen would be men in their early 30s.

Go for Espen, 100%

Also, in Norwegian at least, Leif = "Laihf"

Leif

Sorry for spam, I missed that you're Norwegian .

I'd still go with Espen.

I'm 40 and I knew a Leif when I was in my early teens - he would be a few years younger than me (and that was in the UK). I love it.

Yes, we are now living in Chelsea.

Thanks for all the comments.

Leif is so lovely. But you would do well to get a quick and simple "Yes, 'Leif', it rhymes with 'safe' and 'waif'!" line up your sleeve, and be prepared to do a lot of spelling.
Grattis!