Any thoughts on current top picks?

I’m not pregnant or trying to be at the moment, just thinking about the future.

Any opinions on these names, bad/good? I only want 2 kids, so barring surprises or difficulties, we will have one of each or two of the same. So first name is for potential first-born and second for potential second-born. Last name will be a patronymic beginning with G, 2 initial syllables plus ‘son’ for boys and ‘dóttir’ for girls.

Rósa Maren (Rósa is familiar and I think sounds good in both languages, also a nod to my mother’s mn Rosalie, Maren is not particularly Icelandic, more Scandinavian, but I think it fits really well)
Elva Sólveig (Elva is a lot more unusual than Rosa but still somewhat known in the UK I think, I love it because of the river/elf meaning, Sólveig is a solidly Nordic name dating back to the sagas, original meaning likely hall-strength but now essentially sun-strength. Together it makes me think of a river in the sunshine).

Matthías Karl (Matthías is very popular in Iceland (21 in 2012, still only 18 babies though) and likely to remain so I think, but it’s still quite a steady popularity rather than a spike, familiar but unusual in the UK. Karl is a non-negotiable family name, also an old name used in Iceland since the saga-age)
Leó Ingimar (Leó is a very non-traditional Icelandic name, although familiar and quite popular now as a mn, very familiar and easy in the UK. I think Ingimar balances out the Latin vibe, even though it was only used in Iceland from the 19th century it is still very Nordic and Ingi- names have always been used here)

Or the ‘more Icelandic f’ alternatives:

Svala ”sabel (Svala is the word for swallow, one of my favourite British summer birds, ”sabel is the Icelandic spelling of my mother’s name, pronounced EE-sah-bel. I’m not too sure about the vowel ending and vowel beginning but I don’t like too many names that start with a consonant and don’t end with a so it’s tricky)
Ylfa Sólveig (Ylfa means she-wolf, which I love)

Gylfi Karl (Gylfi has been one of my favourites for a really long time, and a G name means the initials and mn would be the same as father and grandfather. I think that’s kind of cool, but of course not necessary to keep that pattern)
Orri Felix (Orri is the word for black grouse, I love it because I think it’s cute and I would guess really easy to say/spell whilst being totally Icelandic. Felix is a very uncommon name in Iceland, but there are a few famous Felix’s so it’s known. They say FELL-ix though rather than FEEL-ix, such a difference that I would only use as mn)

Of course Murphy’s Law says that when it comes to it, bf won’t like any of them, but I can daydream :slight_smile:

I can see your top four names as sibsets

Rósa [name_f]Maren[/name_f] & [name_m]Le[/name_m]ó Ingimar - The girls combo is very pretty. I aware of the names [name_m]Ingmar[/name_m] and [name_m]Ingemar[/name_m] but I’ve never seen it spelled with an “i”. Is Ingimar the Icelandic spelling?

Matthías [name_m]Karl[/name_m] & [name_f]Elva[/name_f] Sólveig - these names are a little more unusual than Rósa & [name_m]Le[/name_m]ó so I paired them together. I knew a Finnish Sólveig when I was younger. I always thought it was exotic - well, for an English speaker like myself.

In regards to the “more Icelandic” options… I do like the girls combos of Svala ”sabel Ylfa Sólveig. I don’t like the boys choices. They seem a little juvenile and weak to me compared to the strong sounds of the girls.

[name_f]Rosa[/name_f] [name_f]Maren[/name_f]- Gorgeous.
[name_f]Elva[/name_f] [name_f]Solveig[/name_f]- Very nice. I like how [name_f]Solveig[/name_f] kind of grounds the airy [name_f]Elva[/name_f].
[name_m]Matthias[/name_m] [name_m]Karl[/name_m]- Handsome! I love [name_m]Matthias[/name_m].
[name_m]Leo[/name_m] Inigmar- I love both of these choices!
Svala [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]- Pretty. It flows nicely.
Ylfa [name_f]Solveig[/name_f]- Powerful sounding.
Gylfi [name_m]Karl[/name_m]- Gylfi feels more like a nickname for a strange little kid…
Orri [name_m]Felix[/name_m]- Ditto.

I really like all of your options, except Gylfi and Orri. They make complementary sibsets, and I love how they honor your heritage and family. :slight_smile:

Thanks, you both have a really good point about Gylfi and Orri, they are kind of juvenile and nickname-sounding (Orri was originally a nickname in the saga-age so good call), especially compared to the others. I liked them for their simplicity, but it’s definitely something to think about. In my defense, Gylfi is really not a nickname, it’s an ancient mythological royal name although he was most famous for being tricked (Gylfi - Wikipedia), but I can’t expect people to know that, for sure.

I don’t think [name_m]Le[/name_m]ó is an option for a first boy because the mn has to be [name_m]Karl[/name_m] and I think [name_m]Le[/name_m]ó [name_m]Karl[/name_m] is too short, plus [name_m]Lion[/name_m] [name_m]Man[/name_m] seems a bit weird to me ([name_m]Karl[/name_m] is the exact word for man in Icelandic, and although lion is ljón, the lion link with [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is really strong).

Ingimar is indeed the Icelandic spelling of [name_m]Ingmar[/name_m]/[name_m]Ingemar[/name_m] :slight_smile:

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think these are better:

Ingimar [name_m]Karl[/name_m] (Not sure about the repeating ar sound…)
Kjartan Óskar (I thought this one might be a little hard to say… Kjartan is actually an old Irish name made Icelandic, adapted from a shortening of Muirchertach, he’s a hero in one of the sagas with an Irish grandmother, named after an Irish king. [name_u]Love[/name_u] the history and literary pedigree, but is it a bit of a tongue-twister? It’s supposed to rhyme with tartan, and the j is a y sound.)
Otherwise most of the stronger Icelandic male names I like I had consigned to mn only because I honestly think my family would need significant training to pronounce them, and I don’t want it to be too challenging. Þorlákur, ”sgrímur, Höskuldur anyone? Haha, I love them but I wouldn’t do it for a first name for a kid who is only 50% Icelandic.

I love all four girls names. Very pretty :slight_smile: I like the first two boy combos too. I think Svala [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] and [name_m]Leo[/name_m] Ingimar are my favourites.