Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Scandi baby names that work in the UK

89 replies

Taggys · 04/10/2023 15:08

Hello!
I am Swedish living in the UK, and we are discussing baby names that work in both languages. What are your opinion on the following names? Do they work well in English? (they are all well-known Swedish names)

Boys:
Sigurd/Sigvard
Otto
Nils
August
Einar
Edgar
Ebbe
Ivar

Girls:
Ilse
Asta - pronounced "Asda" - so I am thinking no because of the shop, or would this matter?
Eira
Estrid
Hilma
Elfrida
Willa
Signe

Many thanks!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:27

NeunundneunzigHorseBallonz · 12/10/2023 11:06

I love Asta for a girl, but what about
Lina/Lena
Greta
Signe is lovely (means swan), but I doubt the average English person would pronounce it correctly.
Otto & Edgar are cool for a boy, as is Ivar, Einar and Nils. I really like Chrisoffer, Christian and Magnus too.
(Very glad you’re not going with Loki or Thor. Every second husky has these names.)

see, maybe Asta would work after all... I am in two minds about it! :D I love the name, but don't want to cause any potential problems ...
Lina - all the girls had this name when I was young in the 90s!
Lena - already taken in the family, otherwise lovely!
Greta - cool, but sounds quite harsh in Swedish
Signe - was on my list, but I am worried that it will get all sorts of pronunciations in the UK, as you say
I like Magnus!!
And yes, Loki is my neighbour's cat haha and Thor is just too much Viking I think! :D

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:29

NeunundneunzigHorseBallonz · 12/10/2023 11:06

I also like Magne for a boy as well as Magnus.

Magne is cool!! Thanks! <3

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:30

RiaOverTheRainbow · 12/10/2023 11:14

Is the S in Asta pronounced sss or zzz? If sss it doesn't sound like Asda (azda) and would be fine, I like it a lot!

It should be "sss" - thanks for pointing this out. I like it, just scared people won't get it right and it causing confusion...

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:31

thislittlebird · 12/10/2023 11:28

@Taggys nice short list! Otto and Agnes are cute!

Sooo cute right!!! Thank you <3

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:36

brassbells · 12/10/2023 11:30

Princess Eugenie & Jack named their first son August, not sure if that has made it a very popular/common name or not.

He was named after a grandfather I think it was Smile Smile Smile

He is 2 years old so are there lots of toddlers named August?

Does it make any difference if your baby is born in August or not?

I think it shouldn't matter what month the birth happens but don't know about general opinion

No idea because April & May & June have been girls names for years so don't know the answer just putting out the question to MN

I didn't know it was popular in the UK, I have never heard of a baby August here - but it's quite common in Sweden, in the top 10 for boys:😄Both Nils and August from my original list are on there...

Top 10 names for newborn boys in Sweden, 2022
1 William 690

  1. Liam 679
  2. Noah 677
  3. Hugo 643
  4. Oliver 629
  5. Lucas 616
7. Nils 579
  1. Matteo 571
  2. Valter 566
10. August 565

I'm with you on the born in the right month thing... it would make sense I guess, but if you really like the name, then I think you should be able to use it anyway! "August" isn't the name of the month in Swedish, that is "augusti", so that reference isn't relevant there...

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:39

Alstroemeria123 · 12/10/2023 11:34

How would you pronounce Agnes? I think the standard British pronunciation is quite harsh, but if you used more of a Swedish “gn” sound, you’d be constantly correcting it.

yeah, I know! The Swedish pronunciation is: "Ang-nes" and the English one is more like "Ag-nes". So there is a difference, but I actually like both! :D It's quite a common name in Sweden, but not so common here I don't think. People would know the name though, which I think is really good!

OP posts:
dg3131 · 12/10/2023 12:41

Otto is my number one name for another baby and I'm not Swedish 😂 I love it always have

Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:41

HippeePrincess · 12/10/2023 11:37

Probably going to be outing but I know an Einar in the UK. It’s a lovely name, no one struggles to pronounce it, and as long as you love it and it can be pronounced in both languages and isn’t similar to anything rude then you should go for it.
so many non standard English names are used now I don’t think they’d stick out.
I do love Otto though.

aaah, someone who knows of Einar!! :D Glad to hear that, thank you!! Yes, I think once you know the name, it won't sound strange to you! I also like Otto a lot, thanks <3

OP posts:
Original poster
Taggys · 12/10/2023 12:43

KirstenBlest · 12/10/2023 11:40

@Alstroemeria123 , Is the Swedish pronunciation more like An-es or An-yes?

Edited

It's "Ang-nes", so slightly softer than the hard "G" - but I love that it's a vintage name in both Sweden and the UK! <3

OP posts:
IdaPolly · 12/10/2023 12:44

The ones that I think would work best in my dcs' secondary school in South London are

Boys:

Einar
Ivar

Girls:

Asta
Eira

Ouchiebum · 12/10/2023 12:44

I’m also of Swedish background and have a Beatrice who is bea for short. I think it’s worth thinking about where the kids will be growing up, if in uk then have scandi names that are relatively easy for English people to spell / pronounce.
there is a lot of conversation about how mispronunciation of names is a form of bigotry and racism. I’m not saying it’s the same as for people from non European backgrounds but as someone who has had their scandi first and last name mispronounced every single day, it gets very boring. I use English pronunciation of my name, which irks me slightly. So do think about making it easy for your kids so they don’t suffer the same irritation!

SirVixofVixHall · 12/10/2023 12:50

Taggys · 04/10/2023 15:47

Yeh, like the month. Thanks for your opinion! Yes, Eira is also a Welsh name, and we live on the Welsh border so for us that isn't a problem. I think it can be pronounced "Eye-ruh" for both English and Welsh. <3 Thanks!

Show quote history

Eira isn’t “eye-ra” in Welsh. The ei sound is difficult for English speakers so that is how it sounds when anglicised.
Anyway, lots of lovely names in your list, I particularly like Elfrida but I like all your choices. Otto , Edgar also would be pronounced properly .
How about Petrus ?

PatsyStonesBeehive · 12/10/2023 12:57

We are a half-Danish family. Boys names we had on our list with a Scandi influence were: Kasper, Karsten, Soren, Esben and Viggo. Could any of those work? Also, what about Stellan (after the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard).

Girls: Alma, Laerke, Tove, Thyra? Those would work well in the UK.

As an alternative to Asta, how about Astra? Or Astrid?

Twiglets1 · 12/10/2023 13:16

Stellen is a good actor @PatsyStonesBeehive

So is his son, Alexander- possibly another name for @Taggys to consider?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread