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!

Or maybe it's Toe-vuh, like someone uprhread suggested with the 'e' sound being different.

The first syllable is pronounced more like Taw not Toe.

Lena
Leonie

Tove is more like Toh-Veh. It's not Tow-vay.

Being Scandinavian, I can hopefully help with a few that are both Scandi and British: Helga, Rowena, Brigit (Bridget), Astrid, Freya, Rita, Greta, Sandra, Audra (my personal favourite as it means Storm in lithuanian), Camilla, Daina or Dainora (means song), Edita (Edith), Laima (means luck), Regina, Ruta, Vasara (lithuanian for summer), Inesa, Nina, Erica.

@scotscorner's baby will be coming up for 18 months by now. I don't think she needs any more suggestions!

The Danish Tove is said different from the Swedish Tove (Tove Jansson). Has everyone noticed this thread is from 2022?

I know someone Swedish called Elna, which I really like!

ZOMBIE THREAD

What does 'zombie thread' mean?

@miriamsalt it means it's a "dead' thread that has been restarted. The op started this thread in 2022 so her baby likely has a name now.

I have 2 Swedish friends called Inger. They are both lovely ladies. You could spell it the German (I think) way of Inga.

Why does that matter? It's useful for other people.

I’m half Norwegian, and don’t think a lot of the Scandi names are particularly attractive. Why the need for a Scandinavian name?

I see the PP’s point about picking a name that people in the UK will know how to pronounce. I like the name Inge but I can imagine it being pronounced like “hinge” without the H. If people do pronounce the name differently, how much would it annoy you?

It’s worth considering whether the names you like are now old fashioned in Norway / Denmark. So many of the French names I find chic are now really dated - a bit like Sandra or Pauline. I expect that is the case for Scandinavian names too.

Regarding pronunciation, you will need to decide which Nordic country to follow plus there are a few unexpected sounds. Eg in Swedish Kerstin is not pronounced with a k British k sound it is closer to Sh (but not that exact sound), equally a G followed by some (but not all) vowels is a y sound. Hence the Swedish for Gothenburg Göteborg is not Gottenberg but is closer to Yerta-boy. Finally, there is no z sound so Elisabeth is Elissa-bet . Apologies for the inaccurate rendering of pronunciation - I am just giving an idea of potential issues.

@CruCru , kids would probably add an M. (waits for a deluge of 'Nobody gets teased about their name' posts, allegedly from teachers)

On threads like this one, the suggestions tend to be names that posters have seen/heard on adults, so are unlikely to be used for babies now.

OP will have named her baby over a year ago.

Kids these days have different concerns to those kids had 30 years ago. I have 3 teenagers and know nobody that has been made fun of because of their name, it just doesn't happen. There's racism and homophobia and sexism from the losers, it's not a utopia) but your name doesn't make you a target.

Yeah, you're right. No teenager would laugh at a name like Mike Hunt or Jenny Taylor.

There aren't many teenagers called Mike or Jenny these days though are there. Other nicknames are available.

And your initial example was taking a name and saying it rhymed with another word in your accent (it wouldn't rhyme in mine so I'd never link the two words).

My teenagers would view someone who insisted a name sounds a bit like another word and therefore was a reason to make fun of someone was a bit of a loser making an offensive version of a Dad joke.

Dad joke? Ageist, sexist, parentist?

Just because your teenagers wouldn't doesn't mean others wouldn't.