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. 😊

Love Borgen, and how they pronounced Laura (lovely name in both English and Danish).

They thought they'd changed the name on the subtitles. It came up as we were talking about how they don't always do a direct translation. I remember once they translated Malmö to Sweden 😂

The names of princes and kings and queens are ALWAYS translated in Spain. So Queen Elizabeth was la reina Isabell II, King Charles is el rey Carlos, princess Catherine is Catalina and William is Guillermo. It´s a norm as from forever.

Also, many of the same names are used throughout Europe and beyond but often with different pronunciations and/or spellings. Robert is a very good example. In the UK and Germany, we see the name and immediately think Robut, but in France the same spelling is pronounced Robair. Neither is wrong.

In England you may see “Robert” and think “Robut” but the whole UK does not say it like that. In Scotland it is “Roburt” with a strongly-pronounced R. We don’t say “Robut Buns”! We also say it this way when we talk about Robert the Bruce who sent you English homewards to think again! (Though he was actually of French ancestry so who knows how he actually said his own name 😂).

Robert has various pronunciations in the UK, even within England.

@AndiOliversGlasses and @KirstenBlest, you have both rather proved my point about names being pronounced in different ways and all of them correct and none of them wrong.

Neither of us disagreed with your point. We just disagreed with the statement that all of the UK says Robert as “Robut”.

@Violinist64 , What @AndiOliversGlasses posted.
I know Robet, Robat, Roberrt and Robut.

To be honest, el rey Carlos does sound a lot more exciting than King Charles.

Roburrt in Scotland. Or Robbie or Rabbie or Rab.

I have a Magnus in the UK and we pronounce it with a hard G generally although I'm aware it's Mang-nus in Sweden (I'm half Swedish). It's just easier in the UK and I like both versions.
My dad who is Swedish pronounces it as Mang-nus generally although it's barely noticeable - I didn't even realise he did for the first year 😂. I asked him about it and he didn't think it was remotely strange to pronounce it slightly differently when speaking English.
He's "Mag" for short anyway.

Lovely speakers of northern languages, please would you tell me how to pronounce Yggdrasil? Is it 'Ig dra sil'?
I am reading the Bernard Cornwall books, and this tree keeps cropping up.

Essentially yes, Ig-dra-sil. Stress always on the first syllable.

In modern Icelandic a double g is a little harder than an English hard g, almost a k.

But don't bother with all that

Many thanks, lovely Puffinshop!