Thoughts on Astrid?

[FoleyHuck]

Early days for us still but DH and I have been throwing names around, he's Swedish so we're looking at Swedish/Scandi names but avoiding those that would be out of place in the UK.

Thoughts on Astrid for a girl? Our surname is recognisably Swedish. We'd probably add a middle name but haven't got that far yet.

I swing between really liking it and not being so sure. We also like Ronja, but I know a Sonja who too often has to explain the j is actually an i sound, so maybe not!

Otherwise open to other Scandi / Swedish suggestions! Thanks.

Love Astrid, it’s my favourite name. I first heard of it from the book Bill’s New Frock (best book ever), and she was actually an early feminist role model for me! 😀

On the way out of the hall, Bill Simpson heard Astrid complaining to Mrs Collins:
'It isn't fair! He always picks the boys to carry things.'
'Perhaps the table's quite heavy,' soothed Mrs Collins.
'None of the tables in this school are heavy,' said Astrid. 'And I know for a fact that I am stronger than at least two of the boys he picked.'
'It's true,' Bill said. Whenever we have a tug of war, everyone wants to have Astrid on their team.'

Some of our "fancier" friends have a daughter named Astrid.

I think its nice

I genuinely love it. I really like girls names with a hard/punchy finish if that makes sense at all 😆. I also love Alice, Madaleine, Tanith, Seren, Meredith, Adelaide and many more

@KirstenBlest people keep saying my name wrong and I just either ignore or correct. It really doesn't bother me but I understand if someone else finds it annoying.

It's not so much them saying it wrong that bothers me, it's when it gets misspelt and a prescription can't be issued, cheque can't be cashed or an invoice not paid etc. I always feel a bit uncomfortable having to ask 'Did you spell my name properly?'

There are also those charming people who tell me I'm spelling my name incorrectly or that my name is something else. (e.g. why do you call yourself Kirsten when you are really Kristen/Kristine?)

It's a lovely name OP!

Sorry, not keen on Ronja at all.

I quite like Astrid but prefer Ingrid or (even more) Sigrid.

Ronja is lovely too. I think easy to pronounce.

I like it that they are both quite unfussy.

Our Niece (also a very popular Swedish name but growing up in Britain) has been 'Willy' most of her secondary school years and has fully embraced it😉

In seriousness though, plenty of names just never have a diminutive or a NN. Off the top of my head friends / colleagues Clare, Eva, Lisa and Anna only ever go by their actual name.

I'm heartened to see the largely positive thoughts on Astrid anyway. DH remains more convinced than me, but I might start playing with middle name combinations and see where we end up.

DD (7) is Astrid.

Obviously I'm biased, but I think it's uncommon without being weird. I don't know any others, but I'm not in London, where it sounds like it's more common.