Pronouncing Scandinavian names - pet peeve

[dylexicdementor11]

This is meant as a friendly reminder to all the Liv’s, Sören’s, Astrid’s, Freya’s etc out there.

As a Scandinavian, I think it’s quite charming that Scandi names are all the rage. However, if you do not speak a Scandinavian language and you decide to name your child a Scandinavian name, or if you have a Scandinavian name please be aware that you are probably mispronouncing the name.
So if a person that actually speaks the language correctly, pronounces the name, please don’t throw a hissy fit and correct them. 😊

I don't get why so many people get so upset about names being said incorrectly. Unless people are trying to be deliberately unkind why does it matter is a name isnt said properly.

I have a foreign name that doesn't have a common English pronunciation so I get called all sorts of variants.

Well it depends doesn't it @HowWasTheEnd?

Obviously if it's a difficult name to pronounce, or there are different variants in different places, that's one thing - at least initially.

But if someone constantly can't be bothered saying your name as you wish it to be said, that's something else. I used to work with an Annemarie (not really, but something similar). A colleague insisted on calling her Anna Maria all the time. Not sure why. It did bug her.
The colleague was corrected. She was of the opinion it didn't matter.

Some people don't mind different variants of their name being used but some do. It's obviously different if you're just meeting someone for the first time. You'd use the pronunciation you're most familiar with then. But I'd consider it impolite to continue to do so unless the owner of the name was fine with that.

My children have dual citizenship British/Scandinavian country.
Their names are pronounced different in Scandinavian than UK. To be honest? No one minds.

But you are mistaken to correct an English speaker. It's their name, in their language. That's like an Italian speaker insisting on correcting a "Bruno", "Marco" or "Angela" to an Italian pronunciation. The scandi version might be how you originally pronounce the name in the original language but it's not how you pronounce their name.

Freya is a standard Scottish name, anyway.

My pet peeve is Magnus. It’s not supposed to be pronounced Mag-nuss with a hard G, it’s Mang-nuss.

Kerstin is absolutely not Kishten in Swedish. It varies where in Sweden you come from, but Shestiin or Sherstiin.

This. So annoying with the G which is silent. 😅

In Scottish accent or in Scandi kanguage

But it’s the same with Scandi people using English names. A friend named her daughter Miley. But they and everyone else call her Maj-li.

Same here. We don’t mind.

@stripeyoldcat

It's seems easier for Scandinavians to pronounce their names in British than for the Britishs to pronounce in Scandinavian language.

It's standard for them to introduce themselves by the 'right' language depending on location. They don't even think twice.

I agree that I think names are generally pronounced the "common" way for the country if that's the owner's nationality and where they live. If you named your baby Genevieve in England you might have never even heard it pronounced the French way so that would sound wrong to you

If we’re in England, Australia or another English speaking country we would pronounce them in English. To make it easier for people to understand. If I were in another Scandinavian country and the name was pronounced just slightly different, I’d pronounce it like the way I’d do in my own country. I don’t know anyone here who would not do this naturally, just like you say.

My name is Norwegian but my parents changed the 'e' to an 'a' so it's pronounced the Norwegian way by English people (and an 'e' at the end of a name sounds like an 'a') Great foresight..
The Scandinavian way of pronouncing Scandinavian names is often prettier. Eg Liv is pronounced Leeve and Astrid is pronounced Ustri. Bit softer.

Yes, exactly.

To clarify, I don’t mind how people pronounce a name. I mind when my pronunciation is corrected. There is a difference!

genuinely curious to know how else Astrid is pronounced?

How is Liv pronounced?!

I'm Irish and although I accepted the English/American Caitlin pronunciation long ago, ‘Sorsha’ for Sorcha (and sometimes seemingly interchangeably for Saoirse!) really winds he up.

My challenge to this would be that names are often pronounced quite differently even between the Scandinavian countries.

Classic British names are v popular among my Scandinavian friends kids and I suppose they are all pronounced ‘incorrectly’ by this standard! I don’t see it that was though - more that it’s a local adaptation.

Substitute irish for Scandinavian and I'm all there with you. It's the spellings that get me more than the pronunciation. Anglicising the spelling of a name from another language in general winds me up.

@MumChp They have sounds we don't have in English in their languages.

Incidentally 2 of my daughter's names, including her first name, have different roots. So people we've met from different countries since she was a baby pronounce them slightly differently. Tneeds

It's all Magnus Magnusson's fault.

RIP, Mastermind king.

I would pronounce those Katlin and Keera

@stripeyoldcat

My children's British family aren't able to say their names in Scandinavian - they really tried. Hard. We gave up as the children don't mind.

Their Scandinavian relatives are able to say their names in British. Maybe because Scandinavians are taught English from an early age.

@Reugny

Yes, we avoided ø-ö/æ-ä/å for that reason. My mum's name is Norwegian and has an ø in it. Would never work in UK.