Our Scandinavian and American baby

General Name Discussion
1

Hello everyone!

We’re expecting our first baby due in [name]August[/name]. We currently live in New [name]York[/name] but I’m originally from Finland and my family still lives there (my husband is American with Scandinavian roots). So we need a name that works in both countries which has proven to be a very difficult thing to do :smiley: And to make matters even worse, our last name is two syllable G***n which is almost impossible to pair with anything :smiley:

For a boy it’s seems to be an easier choice. Our current options are the following

[name]Henry[/name] Gn
[name]Henri[/name] Gn -the Finnish spelling, but it would be spelled wrong in US all the time? WDYT?
[name]Noel[/name] G***n

For a middle name our favorites include [name]Carl[/name] Mangus, [name]Francis[/name], [name]Maxwell[/name] and [name]Dashiell[/name]. We also love surnames in the middle spot including [name]Anderson[/name], [name]Lennon[/name] etc. but they don’t worki with our last name. If you have any other good suggestions, please let me know.

As for a girl, finding a good name seems to be impossible. At the moment we’re thinking about these. The spellings are in this way in order to make sense in Finnish, so they are not really negotiable.

[name]Emmalina[/name] “[name]Emma[/name]” Gn
[name]Charlotta[/name] “[name]Lotta[/name], [name]Lola[/name]” Gn -too close to [name]Charlotte[/name]?
[name]Lola[/name] Gn
[name]Ingrid[/name] Gn - “ING-rid”, not “IN-grid”
Inari Gn
Lumi Gn -“LOO-me” Finnish meaning snow. I don’t think the beauty really translates…
Lumia Gn - (The cell phone was named after a baby girl name, not the other way around. Damn Nokia.)
[name]Lovisa[/name] Gn
[name]Saga[/name] Gn
[name]Solina[/name] Gn -a Finnish word name for the sound of babbling brook
[name]India[/name] G***n -probably not the most stylish choice, although we love it. MN options include [name]India[/name] [name]Charlotta[/name], [name]India[/name] [name]Violetta[/name] and [name]India[/name] [name]Georgiana[/name].

So what do you think about these names and if you have any other suggestions, either first or middle, let me know.

Thank you!

2

I like [name]Henry[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name].

[name]How[/name] about [name]Annika[/name] for a girl?

Suggestions:

  • [name]Dominic[/name]

  • [name]Oscar[/name]

  • [name]Felix[/name]

  • [name]Lucas[/name]

  • [name]Hugo[/name]

  • [name]Luna[/name]

  • [name]Annika[/name]

  • [name]Rosalind[/name]

  • [name]Linnea[/name]

  • [name]Lillian[/name]

  • [name]Lily[/name]

  • [name]Etta[/name]

  • [name]Cora[/name]

  • [name]Carina[/name]

  • [name]Helena[/name]

  • [name]Elena[/name]

3

Congrats — You’ve got a wonderful array of names – here’s my opinions/suggestions.

[name]Henry[/name] - Very solid and nice name
[name]Henri[/name] - It might prove to be burdensome. People might hear it, and think it’s “[name]Henry[/name],” while others who see it written might think it’s said the French way. But then again, there’s are lots of names that need to be spelled for people these days. Could be worth it if you really like it
[name]Noel[/name] - I like it. It shouldn’t be too different for people, and I’m surprised that it isn’t more popular, given [name]Noelle[/name]'s popularity. What does surprise me is that some people use this spelling for girls.

In your middles suggestions, I saw [name]Carl[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] and really love this combination as a first/middle, but it’s probably not going to work for you since these were on your middles list. If you like double middle names, I’m throwing [name]Henry[/name] [name]Carl[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] out there.

Other suggestions: [name]Anton[/name], [name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Andreas[/name], [name]Anders[/name], [name]Oscar[/name], [name]Filip[/name], [name]Linus[/name]

[name]Ari[/name] (nice and short — could work with a difficult surname if like it – I find it dashing especially as [name]Ari[/name] [name]Dashiell[/name])
[name]Finn[/name] (might be cheesy, but could be a nice nod to your roots, and is nice and short again for a difficult surname)
maybe [name]Henrik[/name] (if you shortened it to [name]Henri[/name], I think more people would understand the reason behind the spelling)

[name]Emmalina[/name] - It’s okay, and makes a fine name. I’m just a little [name]Emma[/name]-ed out.
[name]Charlotta[/name] - THIS one is love! It’s really beautiful — it’s interesting, has accessible shortens (I like [name]Lotta[/name] over [name]Lola[/name], but both are very nice). [name]Charlotta[/name] [name]Lovisa[/name] and [name]Charlotta[/name] [name]Ingrid[/name] would be divine.
[name]Lola[/name] - [name]Just[/name] okay, I like it better as a nickname for [name]Charlotta[/name].
[name]Ingrid[/name] - (Until you posted this, I never realized that I say this name somewhere between the two pronunciations, something like ING-grid, but I live in rural PA, so I’m sure my accent plays a part of that). That said, I really like this name especially as [name]Ingrid[/name] [name]Charlotta[/name] or [name]Charlotta[/name] [name]Ingrid[/name].
Inari - Very interesting!
Lumi - I think you are right about something being lost in translation.
Lumia - [name]Just[/name] okay
[name]Lovisa[/name] - Another beauty like [name]Charlotta[/name] and [name]Ingrid[/name]! [name]Love[/name] it!
[name]Saga[/name] - Not really my style.
[name]Solina[/name] - I like this a lot, but it could get confused for [name]Selina[/name].
[name]India[/name] - I like [name]India[/name] [name]Georgiana[/name].

I really love Aino and Aina, but have no real Finnish connection to use them. From my understanding, Aino is a bit old-fashioned, but I don’t think it would be viewed that way in the US at all. Maybe as a nice middle name for you? Something like [name]Charlotta[/name] Aino or [name]Lovisa[/name] Aino?

Other suggestions: [name]Alina[/name], [name]Katarina[/name], [name]Laura[/name], [name]Renata[/name], [name]Camilla[/name], [name]Tatiana[/name], [name]Carina[/name], [name]Eva[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Martina[/name]

4

I too think [name]Henry[/name] [name]Carl[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] is a terrific name, but then as my grandmother was born in Norway, I love the name [name]Magnus[/name] and [name]Carl[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] in particular.

I think [name]Ingrid[/name], Emmelina, [name]Charlotta[/name], and [name]Lovisa[/name] are all wonderful names, and I love [name]Ingrid[/name] [name]Lovisa[/name] ([name]Ingrid[/name] is ing-ree in Norwegian).

5

Oh, some of these names are just beautiful! I really like [name]Charlotta[/name], and I am really loving [name]Ingrid[/name] right now, too. I think Lumi could work. I like the sound of it a lot, and I think it’s easy to pronounce. I think “Luminous” or “Lumos” (Latin for [name]Light[/name]), so I think the beauty translates, even if it’s not the exact same meaning. ([name]Snow[/name] can be luminous… right?) Those are my three favorites I think.
For boys, I love the name [name]Henry[/name], but for your situation I prefer [name]Henri[/name]. I think it’s a common enough spelling now in the US that even if it’s wrong sometimes a lot of people will know to ask about it. [name]Noel[/name] is also a very nice name. :slight_smile: It’s hard to go wrong!

7

[name]Noel[/name] [name]Anderson[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name]. [name]Noel[/name] solves the [name]Henri[/name] sp. and is so handsome and unexpected.

I absolutely love the name [name]India[/name]! [name]Ingrid[/name] is also a personal fave. Lumi might be a fun, significant mn.

[name]Ingrid[/name] Lumi something has a nice ring. [name]India[/name] Lumi [name]Georgiana[/name]? [name]Lovisa[/name] would be my 3rd ranked fn for you. Great names :slight_smile:

8

I love Lumi! So cute!

Also love [name]India[/name], [name]Georgiana[/name], [name]Ingrid[/name], and [name]Lola[/name].
Like [name]Charlotta[/name], [name]Emmalina[/name].
[name]Don[/name]'t really like Inari (it’s a kind of susihi!), Lumia, [name]Lovisa[/name], [name]Saga[/name], [name]Solina[/name].

I love all three of your boy names, and actually prefer [name]Henri[/name] over [name]Henry[/name].

[name]Hope[/name] that helps!

9

[name]Henry[/name] [name]Carl[/name] [name]Magnus[/name] is lovely, though I prefer [name]Magnus[/name] over [name]Henry[/name].

I live in Finland so love some Finnish names. Inari is my DD’s middle name. Are you using the Finnish pronunciation, it’s not natural for Americans to say?

Lumi is our choice for a middle name for our next baby. I’ve love it as a first name, but can’t convince DP that ‘looney Lumi’ won’t be a problem when we go back to the UK. Couldn’t use Lumia as the phone is everywhere here just now.

Never heard of [name]Solina[/name], but it’s lovely. [name]Saga[/name] is nice as well, but it has something cheesy about it. [name]Ingrid[/name] is nice, but not a first choice.

I’d go for either Inari, Lumi or [name]Solina[/name].

10

I adore [name]Lovisa[/name]! It was my Swedish great-grandmother’s name, so I’ve always had a soft spot for it. I see you’re considering [name]Violetta[/name] as a middle name - I think [name]Lovisa[/name] [name]Violetta[/name] has a gorgeous ring to it.

Good luck! :slight_smile:

11

[name]Halina[/name]? It’s a form of [name]Helena[/name] with roots close to where your from. From your list I like [name]Henry[/name], someone else’s suggestion of [name]Andreas[/name] and I think [name]Jonas[/name] could work well too. For girls I like [name]Charlotta[/name] nn [name]Lola[/name], [name]Solina[/name] & [name]Emmalina[/name]. I think [name]Linnea[/name] would fit too

12

I love Lumi very much, it’s so pretty! I like [name]Lovisa[/name] and [name]Saga[/name] a lot too:)