Freyja

[RizzleRazzle]

All being well, DD1 is arriving in 6 weeks. Me and DP love the name Freya/Freyja but DP really wants to spell it Freyja rather than Freya as that's how the goddess' name is spelled.

I'm okay with it but worried she will be forever correcting people? DP is very passionate about using the correct spelling.

Would you know how to pronounce it just by reading it or will people think it's Frey-juh?

Also thoughts on the middle name Astrid?

Thank you

I don’t know if this will help persuade your DH or make things worse, but Wikipedia tells me the original version of Astrid is Ástríðr.
Seems inconsistent to have the Old Norse spelling for one name and not the other

I know one of each. As far as I know, they haven't had problems with pronunciation (either of them).

I love Astrid as a middle name.

You do need to call any boy children Thor - you do know that, right?

It is going to be a life of saying ‘with an extra J after the Y’.

My own very everyday name has two spellings and I always have to say which. Having inadvertently done the same thing to DD I shouldn’t really comment on that

Lots of names have different spellings - Katharine/Katherine/Kathryn/Catharine/Catherine for example.

People will get used to it but Freya is the most well known spelling in the UK so is probably the easiest one to use.

@Borntohula

It's pretty obvious the 'j' is silent ffs

To you maybe, but I know a Tanja and a Sonja who complain that it isn't.

I think the pronunciation is obvious with or without the j.
I like Astrid.
I wanted the more authentic spelling for my child's name but DH won the battle and we went with the common English spelling.

I think the pronunciation is obvious with or without the j

Yes but that isn't actually the point. It's less what people will say when the see it written down, and more what they will write down when hearing it.

Yes if you ever want her to have the joy of getting stickers, flasks, door name plates, key rings, mugs, rulers, notebooks, pens etc with her name on then spell it's Freya.
I say this as a person with a name that is not popular (either now or when I was a kid) and always missed out on that - worse when your sister had a popular name

My cousin is a Freya, her Mum actually wanted Freja but Dad wouldn't agree so went with Freya.

When Dad left, Mum switched it to Freja (still very young) and my cousin hated it. When she discovered it could be spelled a few ways she started using Freyja which she preferred but then realised for her exams etc it was important to match her id and discovered it was actually Freya which she stuck with.

She was forever spelling it and getting it mispronounced and asked what side of the family was nordic but was about 20 years ago and its far more common now.

She said she still prefers Freyja again because it matches the actual goddess she was named for.

@BeingATwatItsABingThing

I’m normally in the camp of spell the name ‘correctly’ but for this one, I would spell it Freya. That’s the common spelling and I personally think it looks nicer.

I like Astrid.

Totally this for both points.

I actually prefer the Freyja spelling but I would choose the Freya spelling for simplicity’s sake!

I live in Denmark and think your DHs spelling is odd, though a quick statistc check tells me there are 118 women in denmark with this name. I think it looks like a typo, or that the parents couldnt decide.
Freya has 2485 and Freja 11128.

I dont really like Astrid, but its quite common here. Are you or DH scandanavian?

@Ilovemaisie

Yes if you ever want her to have the joy of getting stickers, flasks, door name plates, key rings, mugs, rulers, notebooks, pens etc with her name on then spell it's Freya. I say this as a person with a name that is not popular (either now or when I was a kid) and always missed out on that - worse when your sister had a popular name

This is a really good point, my name isn't super popular and I never got to buy any of the tat in gift shops with my name on!

It’s such a popular name in the UK now that if you don’t use the Anglicised spelling Freya you are setting her up for a lifetime of correcting people.

There is always Thora...

I like Astrid

@boltfromtheblueblue

I think the pronunciation is obvious with or without the j

Yes but that isn't actually the point. It's less what people will say when the see it written down, and more what they will write down when hearing it.

Yes absolutely this, I think reading "Freyja" it isn't hard to know how it is pronounced but when telling people her name I expect she will constantly be having to spell it out afterwards.

Shalom my daughter has a popular name so she gets lots of stuff with her name on. A few years ago we were in a shop and they had mini colouring books with names on. Of course hers was there. And then I got excited. There was one for me. The name printed on the front....
"They Never Have My Name"

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale

I live in Denmark and think your DHs spelling is odd, though a quick statistc check tells me there are 118 women in denmark with this name. I think it looks like a typo, or that the parents couldnt decide. Freya has 2485 and Freja 11128.

I dont really like Astrid, but its quite common here. Are you or DH scandanavian?

I don't think it's odd, it is the original spelling for the Goddess' name but Freya is the modern spelling

Neither of us are Scandinavian, both English.

I do think Freya will be much easier for her (and me)

Freya looks much nicer. Not keen on Astrid - very hard sounding and don't like the 'ass' sound. I think a one or three syllable middle name would flow better too...

I'll second everybody else and say to stick with Freya. Because Freya is top 10 and so well known, Freyja will be constantly misspelt and likely annoy her (you may also get people saying it with more of a "jah"). Freya Astrid is lovely - quite Scandi sounding but very pretty.

I know someone with a DD spelt Freja which is quite cool

My daughter is a freja and spelled it with a j and no y . Lot easier.

Not RTFT. If you spell it Freyja will you use the Norwegian pronunciation?
If not, use Freya.

Why? I don't know how the Norwegians pronounce it differently to English, but the Norwegians can't claim complete ownership of this one.

Freyja is the Icelandic spelling and you know Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. In Icelandic we pronounce it exactly the same as the anglicised Freya. OK, the r is slightly rolled but it's a minor difference.

Freyja is beautiful and very popular for Anglo-Icelandic girls in my experience - the perfect cross-over name!

I think maybe for a fully English child it's best to go with the most common spelling, just for practical purposes.

@Puffinshop , more like fry-ah.

I listened on Forvo and it sounded a bit like how we would say Frauja. Well in any case since Freyja isn't strictly a Norwegian spelling I think there's no need to tell OP it must be pronounced as in Norwegian.