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!

I was going to suggest Pernille.

Other ideas:
Frieda
Greta
Marit
Elin
Sissel
Saskia
Benedicte
Lucia
Johanna
Dagmar

I see that Inge, Noa and Ola are among the suggestions above; might be good to know that these are boys’ names in Sweden.

My cousin married a lovely Swedish girl, Birgitta

Laerke is lovely.

Gudrun was the name of Heinrich Himmler's daughter, who grew up to lead an organisation called Stille Hilfe which bankrolled old SS members and paid for their legal representation if they were ever caught and put on trial.

I have a preschooler called Astrid. It's hilarious to see so much love for the name- when we had her, MN consensus was that it sounded like loo cleaner...

Heidi

I have a teen Astrid, I get endless compliments about her name.

I have an Ilsa
I absolutely love her name! Its strong yet sweet just like her.
Definitely loving these lists- inspiration for my next one

Saskia

Thora! Scandi AND closer to Nora. We weren’t brave enough to use it with DC1 and DC2 was a boy but I love love love it.

Siri is a lovely Scandinavian name, sadly it's no use these days (cf Alexa).

My DH is half Norwegian and has a cousin called Runa.

His sister is Kirsten, it's actually pronounced "Shashten" in Norwegian but DSIL has always been "Kirsten" as you'd expect it to be pronounced, with a hard K and a rolled r. It's nice.

I knew a Kirsten but her name was pronounced more like Carsteen over here (I mean in the UK). Kristin is nice.

Astrid and Ingrid are both pretty. Gudrun is an old German hausfrau name I'm afraid. What about Grete / Greta?

I know an Ida, which I always thought was lovely.

Nora is mega dated in Nordic countries.

The nost popular names in Finland atm are:

Alma, Alva, Ella, Selma, Seela, Saimi, Elsi, Pihla, Helmi, Olivia, Emma, Isla, Vivian, Frida, Kerttu, Lilja

Ingrid
Kristen
Ulrika
Inga

I always liked Roald Dahl's sister's name - Astri (no d)

From your list, Astrid is nice.
From Finland, so not Scandi, Eini (pronounced AyNee), Aili (pronounced EyeLee) Miia (Mee-a).

In Orkney and Shetland Ola is only used for girls and Olaf for boys so there's a UK precedent for using Ola for a girl. Agree that Inge is a boys name, Inga would be the equivalent girl's name (and avoids the issues around the pronounciation of the 'e').

I wouldn't worry too much about how fashionable a name currently is in another country, e.g. Emma and Abigail are very popular in the US at the moment but would be dated here.

I know two Scandinavians -
Pia
Linnea

I know an Irish Astrid so wouldn't particularly associate that name with Scandinavia.

Fwiw I really like Norah (with an h!)

Maybe look up Welsh/Irish names too. I know an Eira (welsh) which is pretty, pronounced A-ra. My favourite scandi girls name from this thread is probably Freya.

Eira is a Welsh name and a Norwegian name. Welsh Eira means Snow (It's the Welsh word for snow) and is pronounced Ey-rah (Ra like in rat). It doesn't quite sound like Ava or Ada.

Unless he actually speaks a Nordic language or it's a name that's already been anglicised, you'd have to be careful with the pronunciation. The name Saga is not pronounced like the English word saga in the Nordic language I speak, not sure about the others but I would be doubtful about that.

When I was looking for Icelandic names for my daughter that would be easily pronounced in English, or would be close enough, these are a few that were on the long list (her actual name has already been mentioned):

Svala
Inga
Rósa
Elsa
Lóa
Ylva

Things like Hekla, Embla and Katla could also potentially work.

There are so many other lovely names, but it is surprisingly hard to find options that wouldn't be completely butchered by English speakers! The ones that are possible are all short ones that end in a! I used to joke with my mother that we would name her Ragnheiður.

I am Scandinavian and I don’t like Gudrun at all. It’s old fashioned and a Gudrun would not live in a big city. I see a lot of love for Astrid on here, but personally I think it’s a woman in her 50s so also quite old fashioned I would say. Olaf/ Ola also really old man.
I have give my children names which are recognisable both in the U.K. and my home country.