Scandinavian names that work in English

General Name Discussion
1

I really love Scandinavian names - am fascinated by the region and its culture and history, and would like to expand my lists with more, but the catch is they have to be easy to say and spell for English speakers, and not be seen as too unusual as I live in Australia. Bonus points for connections to Norse mythology.

For girls I already like:

[name_f]Elin[/name_f]
[name_f]Freya[/name_f]/[name_f]Freja[/name_f]
[name_f]Ingrid[/name_f]
[name_f]Linnea[/name_f]
[name_f]Saga[/name_f]
[name_f]Sigrid[/name_f]

And for boys:

[name_m]Anders[/name_m]
[name_m]Leif[/name_m]
[name_m]Stellan[/name_m]
[name_m]Viggo[/name_m] (though sadly this is probably unusable for me as everyone in my family knows I’m a bit of a Mortensen fangirl :stuck_out_tongue: )

2

[name_m]Leif[/name_m] isn’t that usable due to English speakers will naturally pronounce it Leef/[name_u]Leaf[/name_u]. I would replace it with [name_m]Magnus[/name_m] or [name_m]Erik[/name_m].

3

[name_f]Aalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Astrid[/name_f]
[name_f]Brunhild[/name_f]
[name_f]Vendela[/name_f]
[name_f]Signy[/name_f]
[name_f]Eira[/name_f]
[name_f]Terese[/name_f]
[name_f]Iona[/name_f]
[name_f]Thora[/name_f]
[name_f]Thyra[/name_f]
[name_f]Solveig[/name_f]
[name_u]Malin[/name_u]
[name_f]Dahlia[/name_f]
[name_f]Agata[/name_f]
[name_f]Viveca[/name_f]

4

Yay Scandinavian names , I’m Norwegian :slight_smile:

[name_f]Elida[/name_f] - Scandinavian name, a (more common) variation of Ellida, which is a feminine form of [name_f]Elli[/name_f]ði, a ship name in medieval saga (meaning “fast-sailing ship” in Old Norse)
Pronounced “eh-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-dah”

Gyda/Gyða - pronounced “[name_m]GEE[/name_m]-duh” ( [name_m]Gee[/name_m] as in “Geese”). It means warlike in Norse

More coming later, I have to go

5

What about:
[name_f]Svea[/name_f]
[name_f]Annika[/name_f]
[name_f]Lisbeth[/name_f]
[name_f]Erika[/name_f]
[name_f]Anja[/name_f]
[name_f]Sonja[/name_f]
[name_u]Malin[/name_u]
[name_f]Agneta[/name_f]
[name_u]Britt[/name_u]

[name_m]Arvid[/name_m]
[name_m]Bjorn[/name_m]
[name_m]Gunnar[/name_m]
[name_m]Ivar[/name_m]
[name_m]Jonas[/name_m]
[name_m]Jens[/name_m]
[name_m]Nils[/name_m]
[name_m]Lars[/name_m]
[name_m]Johan[/name_m]

Not sure if they are all strictly scandinavian, but they are definitely used there

7

[name_f]Astrid[/name_f]
[name_m]Erik[/name_m]

8

I love Scandinavian names, my grandmother is Danish! I read the previous posts, so hopefully I don’t re-mention any.
Some that might be easier said in Australia:
Ester (great-grandmother)
Else / Elsa
Elke
Mona (cousin)
Inge (cousin)
Adda
Marte
Astrid
Brunhild
Carla

Julius (great-grandfather)
Flemming (cousin)
Niels / Nils (cousin)
Felix
Abel
Mikel
Marten
Hansen
Hans
Frederik
Søren

Some possibly less-easy said in Australia:
Dorte (grandmother; prn daw-ta; she mostly goes by Dottie)
Aase (great-aunt; prn oh-sa)

Jorne (great-uncle; prn your-in)
Mads (cousin; prn maz or mess-ah)
Haase (cousin; prn has-ah)
Fjoder (prn fyod-er)
Fjølner (prn fyor-ner)

A site I like a lot is Nordic Names

9

I’m Icelandic (and Swedish), and here are some names I can think of:

[name_u]Ari[/name_u]
[name_m]Anders[/name_m]
Arnar
Arius
Baldur
Ebbi
[name_m]Edvin[/name_m]
Eldar
[name_u]Finn[/name_u]
[name_m]Gaddi[/name_m]
Gilmar
Gulli
[name_m]Gustav[/name_m]
Haddi
[name_m]Helgi[/name_m]
[name_m]Henning[/name_m]
Ingi
Ingvar
[name_m]Ivar[/name_m]
[name_m]Karl[/name_m]
Kristmar
Krummi
Lindar
[name_m]Magnus[/name_m]
Maron
[name_m]Melkior[/name_m]
Normann
Oddi
[name_m]Olaf[/name_m]
[name_m]Sindri[/name_m]
[name_m]Thor[/name_m]

[name_f]Annika[/name_f]
Begga
[name_f]Brigitta[/name_f]
[name_f]Ebba[/name_f]
[name_f]Edda[/name_f]
[name_f]Elba[/name_f]
[name_f]Elma[/name_f]
[name_f]Frida[/name_f]
[name_f]Greta[/name_f]
[name_f]Gitta[/name_f]
[name_f]Henrika[/name_f]
[name_f]Ida[/name_f]
Inna
[name_f]Jenetta[/name_f]
[name_f]Karlina[/name_f]
[name_f]Liv[/name_f]
[name_f]Magda[/name_f]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_f]Maren[/name_f]
[name_f]Mattea[/name_f]
[name_f]Minna[/name_f]
Munda
Odda
[name_f]Ola[/name_f]
Otta
[name_f]Petrea[/name_f]
[name_f]Pia[/name_f]
[name_f]Rea[/name_f]
[name_f]Roslin[/name_f]
[name_f]Saga[/name_f]
[name_f]Salina[/name_f]
Sola
Svala
[name_f]Telma[/name_f]
Tinna

10

[name_f]Annika[/name_f]
[name_f]Astrid[/name_f]
[name_u]Ari[/name_u]
[name_f]Mia[/name_f]
[name_f]Elsa[/name_f]
[name_f]Hallie[/name_f]
[name_f]Ingrid[/name_f]

[name_m]Linus[/name_m]
[name_m]Stefan[/name_m]
[name_m]Anderson[/name_m]
[name_m]Erik[/name_m]

11

Out of all the suggestions so far, I like:

[name_f]Thora[/name_f]
[name_f]Thyra[/name_f]
[name_f]Vendela[/name_f] (maybe too unusual in Australia?)
[name_f]Solveig[/name_f] (worried about pronunciation though)
Gyda
[name_f]Svea[/name_f]
[name_f]Aina[/name_f]
[name_f]Asta[/name_f]

[name_m]Anders[/name_m] (already on list)
[name_m]Arvid[/name_m]
[name_m]Nils[/name_m]
[name_m]Lars[/name_m]
[name_m]Sindri[/name_m] (though also concerned about it being too unusual)
[name_m]Thor[/name_m] (my boyfriend would never allow this though, we’re both geeks and love superheroes, and he doesn’t want a name that’s too obviously tied to a character we like)

[name_m]Erik[/name_m] is already under consideration as a middle name to honour my grandfather. A lot of the names suggested that aren’t Scandinavian in origin but in use in those countries are nice, just don’t really have that cultural connection (for instance [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f], [name_f]Camilla[/name_f], [name_f]Caroline[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_m]Arthur[/name_m])

12

A (Scandi) [name_m]Anders[/name_m] was a full-blown love shonk to me in real life but I still adore the name. I really like [name_m]Casper[/name_m] and [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] too.

[name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] has been a top girl name for a good decade. [name_u]Love[/name_u] it! [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] is a major GP.