Here in Denmark, we have a hell of a system to go through when wanting to name children something unique. We basically have a list of pre-approved names that can be used and if the name you like isn’t on the list it can basically take years to have it approved (especially with names that are more commonly being used as last names like Mærsk, [name]Fjord[/name] etc.) Anyway, every year whenever someone apply to use a name and it gets approved, the name gets added to the list of approved names, and I thought it might be fun to post some of the names that were among the approved last year (I had a laugh myself):
BOYS:
Awesome (doesn’t really need much of an explanation)
Barca (for hardcore Barca-fans, non?)
Blær (“at blære sig” means to show off, plus, bonus info, “en blære” is a bladder)
[name]Cello[/name] (… yeah)
Cobra (though I’d never use it myself, it does sound quite fancy in Danish)
Dreng (meaning “boy” in Danish, it’s kinda up there with the surprisingly old Danish name, Bror, which means “brother” and is rising up very fast, especially here in Copenhagen)
Faktor (clearly something for the immense X-[name]Factor[/name] fan)
Haj (meaning “shark” in Danish, and the Danish word for hi is “hej”, so the poor little boy named Haj will be facing a lot of Hej Haj’s, poor thing)
Fru (meaning “Mrs.”, why would anyone?)
[name]Jazz[/name] (taking an unexpected turn down the celebrity baby name-lane)
[name]Jura[/name] (to “læse jura” is to go to law school)
Kritte (I don’t even know where to start with this one)
[name]Laban[/name] (usually used as an affectionate word like saying “little bandit, you”)
[name]Ludo[/name] (“[name]Ludo[/name]'s over there playing [name]Ludo[/name] with Backgammon”, no obviously I’m kidding, Backgammon isn’t an approved name … yet)
Lurifax (basically same meaning as [name]Laban[/name])
Nam (meaning “yummy” in Danish)
Memo (oh dear god, in Danish we pronounce it kinda like [name]Nemo[/name])
Niks (meaning “nope” in Danish)
Offer (meaning both “victim” and “sacrifice” in Danish, I legitimately can’t think of a reason why ANYONE would name their child that)
Og (meaning “and” in Danish)
Skak (meaning “chess” in Danish, the twin brother of [name]Ludo[/name]?)
Skat (meaning “darling” or “love” in Danish, I bet that’s gonna create a couple of awkward moments)
Sok (meaning “sock” in Danish)
Syver (meaning “seventh” in Danish, wouldn’t it be the coolest thing if this little boy is actually the seventh sibling?)
Tung (meaning “heavy” in Danish and then you can say “ham der er tung” meaning [rough translation] that guy is stupid)
GIRLS:
Aloha (not as bad as the others)
Altan (meaning “balcony” in Danish)
Badr (something babies say when they spit out food they don’t like, kinda like “ew”)
Befri (meaning “free” in Danish as in ‘[name]Free[/name] [name]Willy[/name]’)
Charme (meaning “charm” in Danish)
Cirkel (don’t need much of an explanation either, the Danish word for “circle”, I’m actually surprised this just got approved, we have A LOT of Cirkelines who are named after this cartoon)
Dyne (meaning “duvet” in Danish)
Engel (meaning “angel” in Danish, now I understand why [name]Angel[/name] is used because it’s actually a pretty common name in Spanish-speaking countries, but Engel … really?)
Europa (meaning “Europe” in Danish, I would suggest Parlamentet [meaning “parliament”] for an eventual brother or sister)
[name]Fe[/name] (meaning “fairy” in Danish)
Fri (meaning “free” in Danish, but you can also “fri” meaning proposing)
Fryd (meaning “delight” in Danish, but you can also “fryde dig” meaning rejoicing over something)
Gift (meaning “poison” in Danish, but you can also “være gift” meaning being married, this is a horrible name for a [name]Dane[/name], oh dear god)
[name]Gin[/name] (and Tonic for a younger sibling, perhaps?)
Gul (meaning “yellow” in Danish)
Glød (meaning “glow” in Danish)
Håb (meaning “hope” in Danish, clearly just someone who decided to be smart and translate [name]Hope[/name] into Danish)
Musling (meaning “sea shell” in Danish, but it is also often used as an affectionate name like “baby”)
Ninja (I’m actually pretty sure this is being pronounced [name]Nin[/name]- as in [name]Nina[/name] and -ja as in jah, or whatever)
Nitte (meaning “rivet” in Danish, but “en nitte” can also mean a nobody)
Ny (meaning “new” in Danish)
Ok (twin sister to Og, perhaps?)
Panda (poor girl)
[name]Sommer[/name] (meaning “summer” in Danish, fittingly they could name siblings Forår [“spring”], Efterår [“autumn”] and Vinter [“winter”])
Oh boy, Lurifax made me laugh! My mum used to call me this when I was little. I think Fru, Kritte, Blær, Niks, Offer, Sok (why???), Dyne, Gift and Nitte are the worst ones.
I really like Fryd, [name]Fe[/name], [name]Sommer[/name] and Syver (I know one by this name actually!). Musling is cute as a button.
Lurifax is adorable as a nickname (I was [name]Laban[/name] myself, haha) but I’m not so sure I would enjoy being Lurifax [name]Nielsen[/name]. Sok is just … that’s just horrible. I also think Badr is bad, I don’t even know how to pronounce it - it’s a sound more than a word! And don’t even get me started on Fru - for a boy!
Fryd sounds like a name from the Norse mythology when you say it in English, I like that one too.
Lurifax [name]Nielsen[/name] might not sound so good, no. Badr is bad! [name]Just[/name] awful… why would anyone do that? I’ve just had a big Danish phase (we went to Copenhagen and bought baby clothes and furniture for the baby’s room) and after that I’ve watched an endless amount of Danish movies and tv shows. So now I hear [name]Mads[/name] Mikkelsen and [name]Sofie[/name] Gråbøl saying these names in my head…
That is so rad, I hope you had a good time here
And you know, hearing names (and just anything really) in the sound of [name]Mads[/name] and [name]Sofie[/name] is not bad at all, especially not with [name]Mads[/name] - I could listen to his voice all day.
Very jealous of you ottilie! I’ve always wanted to visit Denmark. And one of the reasons I like the name [name]Christian[/name] is because it reminds me of little [name]Prince[/name] [name]Christian[/name] who is so cute
As for the names, I love [name]Ludo[/name]. I’m surprised it wasn’t already an accepted name, unless it has a meaning in Danish?
Oh, yes, Copenhagen is one of the best European cities! [name]Love[/name] it! And, [name]Mads[/name] has a gorgeous voice… well, all of him is gorgeous really
wow, that’s a lot of new and unusual names. Was the list longer and you just included the more interesting ones?
[name]Do[/name] you have to state your case for why you want a certain name? A lot of these seem really obscure for a country who works off a specific list. I would think there would be more “normal” names that or names from other cultures that people would want to use and can’t. Names like [name]Laban[/name] and [name]Ludo[/name] that are names in other countries.
[name]How[/name] long is the actual list?–total names available for use?
[name]Christian[/name] is adorable, but not so little anymore. He has really grown lately.
[name]Ludo[/name] means … [name]Ludo[/name], as in the board game
But the whole point of the name “laws” or whatever it’s called, is to avoid embarrassment for the child (which I think we can conclude is gonna happen with some of the names up there) and I think there would be some teasing if a Danish kid was named [name]Ludo[/name] (“hey [name]Ludo[/name], tell Scrabble I said hello!”).
Indeed, though he has an unfortunate habit of taking on … ahem, less flattering roles
I was surprised to see that we (I’m [name]German[/name]) share some words like [name]Sommer[/name],Gift, Engel and Europa. First I thought the Danish naming laws must be even stricter than the [name]German[/name] ones because at least here it’s not that difficult to get a new name approved. If it is a name. Names that have meanings like “boy” or “poison” wouldn’t get approved I’m pretty sure. Poor Offer. (the [name]German[/name] word is Opfer, just the idea of it as a name is shocking)
There were more newly (from 2012) approved names, but these were the oddest.
Yeah, I guess so. Though, with names like Sok and Gift, I think you have to be really good at speaking your case. I don’t really have too much personal experience with this, I do know someone who were gonna name their son F.j.o.r.d. and since that is a name used most commonly as a last name, they’re going through hell to actually get the name approved. They actually had to name him something else (very close to F.j.o.r.d., just one letter is different) because all children have to be named within six months (I believe). He’s like five years old today and it still hasn’t been approved (though there are people who legally bears the name for whatever reason).
Here is the full list (it’s towards the bottom of the page)
Ahh haven’t seen much of the Danish royals since they were in [name]London[/name] for the Olympics. [name]Bet[/name] he’s still a cheeky chappy though
I get that it’s a board game, but I thought it was a fairly common, legit name in the Netherlands, Germany etc. I know an English [name]Ludo[/name] and a few [name]German[/name] Ludovics. Didn’t realise they were that strict on naming!
Yeah, now that you mention it, it does seem odd that a name like Hegn (“fence”), Orm ("worm) or Stony (doesn’t need explanation) got approved before [name]Ludo[/name] did. I’m fairly certain that [name]Ludovic[/name] is approved though (don’t have the patience to check :D).
I looked up some of my favourites, most were approved but not all:
“[name]Du[/name] søgte på [name]Altea[/name]. Navnet er ikke godkendt som fornavn.”
“[name]Du[/name] søgte på Vendel. Navnet er ikke godkendt som fornavn.”
I’m glad I’m on the other side of Kattegatt, then … [name]Althea[/name] is approved though, and I suppose both [name]Altea[/name] and Vendel would go through quite easily?
Glød sounds warm and comfortable, it sounds like an ancient name from the Norse mythology
You wouldn’t have any problem getting [name]Altea[/name] approved when [name]Althea[/name] already is approved.
Vendel, I think, would also go through easily because [name]Vendela[/name] is approved (it’s strange because I was almost 100% sure that [name]Wendel[/name] was approved, but apparently it isn’t).
That’s what I thought. Not that I plan to name a baby in Denmark, but you never know …
Some of my odder, Latin favourites aren’t approved either: Bonifatius, [name]Fortunata[/name]/-us (not very surprising) and Desideria (a little more unexpected, it’s not that unusual in [name]Sweden[/name]). And not Tuve either, despite being the name of several old ancestors from Skåne - I thought it might get at least some use in Denmark?
I had to look up if there are any Glöd in [name]Sweden[/name] - apparently not! [name]One[/name] Glöda though.
When I was little, my brother and I played a superheroes game. My superhero name was always Dyne the Amazing. Now I know what it means… eek! Duvet the Amazing, swooping down to save the world!
Tuve may not be approved but [name]Tuva[/name] is (and it’s really growing in popularity, I know two little [name]Tuva[/name]'s already). Desideria also surprise me, it is a Scandinavian [name]Queen[/name]'s name after all (Désirée [name]Clary[/name]), it particularly surprises me because names like Sok and Gift are approved and a old Latin name like that isn’t, hmm.
Gløda is a sweet name too, maybe even sweeter than “just” Glød because of the ending.
I always find it fascinating how there can be such differences between these countries.
Denmark: Der er to eller færre personer med fornavnet ‘Desideria’
Norway: Det er 3, 2, 1 eller 0 kvinner som har Desideria som første fornavn.
[name]Sweden[/name]: Det finns 794 kvinnor som har förnamnet Desideria.
And I just can’t stop giggling at Sok. I would guess it’s [name]Asian[/name], but still.
