Girl ‘Scandinavian’ names

[scotscorner]

Hi, advice appreciated! Nearly 27 weeks pregnant and DH and I struggling to compromise on girls’ names. (It could be a boy so we may escape the issue).

He has set his heart on baby girl’s name being: Gudrun. I understand this is not totally uncommon in Germany/Iceland/Scandi countries but we are in UK, have no connection to these countries and more importantly I just don’t like it! (He accepts I have vetoed Gudrun).

He is now pushing for other Scandi style names and I am struggling a bit. It wouldn’t be my preference although some of the names are quite nice. He also likes:
Signe
Sigrid
Astrid
Saga

I really want Nora which he says he likes but always does little sad faces as he doesn’t like it ‘as much as any of the Scandi style names’.

I like relatively uncommon names but I just think it’s a bit odd to choose a name from a specific culture/background when you have literally no connection to that place - what do others think?

and does anyone have any other Scandi-sounding names that we might both like??

thank you!

Noa

What about Anitra as in Peer Gynt? Anitra’s dance is a lovely piece of music

I like Gudrun.
I also like Ingrid and Sigri.

No, Heidi is German - it’s a nickname for Adelheid.

Eirfinna

Danmarks Statistiks most popular girls names:
www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/navne-til-nyfoedte

I like Alberte. Although you'd probably have to spell it as Alberta in the UK.

He cares about both…he’s a bit of an esoteric sort (very knowledgeable about all sorts of random things!) and has an interest in old Norse…think he likes the kind of hard “G” that is common in these names (sadly I do not love that sound) and perhaps the kind of androgeny of the fact that the names don’t typically end in “-a”?

He also loved the meaning of Gudrun which was roughly ‘secret knowledge’

Vanja
Tyra or Thyra

greta or stella ?

I'm Swedish and obviously love the Scandinavian names!
Top 100 Swedish names in 2021 found here: www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/befolkning/amnesovergripande-statistik/namnstatistik/pong/tabell-och-diagram/nyfodda--efter-namngivningsar-och-tilltalsnamn-topp-100/flicknamn/

I was going to ask if he was a DH Lawrence fan!

I am married to one and that's why we have a Frieda (which is also Germanic with that spelling).

Elin is great. Not scandi but with a similar vibe is Edme (Ed-may) which was the name of an elderly relative of mine and which we almost used.

If he likes the 'G' what about Greta? You could go with Margaret/eth for long if you wanted to give her options.

Totally agree with this. My parents tried for a name that would be easy for English people, they couldn't have got it more wrong!

99% won't pronounce the -e, if they have a go it will be wrong.

I have long since stopped telling people how to pronounce or spell my name and just suggest 'Do it how you like!'

Also all the really Scandi names are now v old-fashioned in Scandi countries. They are the equivalent of Ethel and Brian in the UK.

Love Tova

I recommend adjusting your lists, adding more names and finding something you both like, it's the only way. I get the struggle because my husband and I have really different styles.

No, I don't think it's weird. Many people pick French names without French ancestry (Élodie, Sophie, Sylvie, Jacqueline) or German names (Heidi). Freya is super popular in the UK and I doubt most parents have the ancestry which is fine.

Does your husband have any preferences regarding the specific country? Names from Sweden, Finland etc. sometimes overlap but they can often be quite different or be pronounced differently. To me it's sort of like saying "I want an Eastern European name" without considering the different languages, names, origins, pronunciations.

Just wondering if he has a preference so I can suggest better suited names for you and I would suggest doing a bit of research on the different cultures. My guess is he is mostly into Swedish names from looking at your list?

Gudrun - you already said that you won't use this one and I can see why because it does sound a bit old fashioned. But I do think it's sort of mysterious and cool, it means "god's secret lore" which I find super intriguing so I can't hate it.

Signe - if you are not native speakers my guess is that many people won't get the pronunciation right. I have a friend called this and it's not that easy to say.

Sigrid - it's fine but very much the same style as Gudrun to me so I do find it old fashioned.

Astrid - this was on my list and I love it but can't get my husband on board. I find this more ready for a comeback than Sigrid or Gudrun but of course that is just my opinion.

Saga - this is pretty but not sure it works that well here.

Suggestions:

Freya
Runa
Lumi
Elsa
Lilja (my friend is named this and the J sounds like a Y)
Alma
Selma
Ebba
Maja (we have Maia on our list)
Kaja (we have Kaia on our list)
Agnes
Alva
Wilma
Hedda
Juni
Liv
Tyra
Stina
Hilda
Lovisa
Sunniva
Solveig
Ronja
Ida
Linnéa
Elina
Aino
Ingrid
Inga
Hermine
Sanna

Nora is used in many Scandinavian countries, maybe let your husband know. I like Nora but it's a bit trendy now.

These are names from all kinds of countries so it depends if he wants them to be from a particular language or country.

Hope this helped and good luck!

Asta.
As in the Barbara Vine novel Asta's Book.
I read it more than 20 years ago and it's always stayed in my mind as such a beautiful name.

Hjördis
Jana
Tove
Bente
Pia
Åse
Ulla
Kajsa
Viveca
Smilla
Annifrid
Agnetha
Greta
Bjørk

Marta
Ebba
Elin
Malin
Hilde
Hanne

I used to work with a Mette (pronounced Metta) who is Danish, have Norwegian friends called Marit and Ilse, Hana (who is half Finnish), Johanna (Swedish) and have always loved the name Astrid.

Had a terrible boss called Anne who was Finnish, so would swerve that, although as mentioned upthread, few realise it is pronounced differently so best avoided full stop.

Hjördis, Bente and Åse as suggested above seem like, shall we say, bold choices if you live in Britain.

Friends and family we have in DK:

Bodil
Kama
Lotte
Hanne
Ana-Kristina
Cecillia
Ditte
Katrine
Amalie
Sofiana
Lykke
Kamilla
Linea
Linett
Laerke
Thyra

Leni
Lena

Freja?

Ingrid
Astrid
Rumi
Hassa
Nour

Gunnhild
Johann
Angharad (it’s Welsh but I thought OP might like it)

Tuva
Annika
Ingrid