Lately I’ve been thinking more about ”var (pronounced EE-var) and would welcome some feedback I am sure I have posted about it before at some point but I can’t quite remember. Anyway, not specifically in relation to this actual baby due in just under 4 weeks!
The things I love about it are its Norse pedigree, which is a huge plus for us over a lot of the other names that would work well as they tend to be Biblical. I like that it’s more on a par with our daughter’s name in that regard (also in that it’s short and does not have an automatic nickname - not that I don’t like nicknames, but this makes it more ‘balanced’ if neither child has one).
I also just think it’s a really cool name. Maybe not instantly familiar for British people and maybe would get confused with [name_m]Ivor[/name_m] (EYE-vuh) or [name_f]Eva[/name_f]… But I love the sound of it and think it could definitely work. When I imagine myself calling a little boy ”var it feels good.
The downside is I think it’s possibly not that great with [name_m]Karl[/name_m], which is the middle name we’d use if it’s feasible. We don’t have to and it wouldn’t take precedence over the first name, but it would be nice to. It’s a family name that would mean a lot. In some ways it would be exciting to drop the expectations and use something other than [name_m]Karl[/name_m], but in another way I think we might well really regret it.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think ”var [name_m]Karl[/name_m] looks awful with the repeating ‘ar’? I personally wouldn’t call him that day to day but in Iceland when people have two names they are both used, much more so than in the UK where middle names hardly matter at all I think. Having said that, my partner (who is also a Something [name_m]Karl[/name_m]) has the exact same issue in his name and it’s always struck me as a very handsome combination (I might be biased haha). I think maybe because ”var is so short in terms of letters it bothers me a bit more visually…
The main contender is still Matthías but ”var I think has a lot going for it. I might be swaying more in that direction.
I think ”var sounds (and looks) fine with [name_m]Karl[/name_m]. It appears that it fits all of your criteria and then some, so I definitely say go for it.
I like [name_m]Ivar[/name_m] [name_m]Karl[/name_m]! I think it could be confused with [name_m]Ivor[/name_m] (in the UK anyway) but people would remember if you corrected them- particularly because the EE/EYE sounds are different
I don’t really like ”var, to be honest. It seems dusty to me. However, ”var [name_m]Karl[/name_m] isn’t bad at all. I don’t think two -ar names are necessarily awful together.
I think ”var is gorgeous! I love [name_m]Ivor[/name_m] too, and the whole “[name_m]Ive[/name_m]” family of names in fact.
I’m British and I would have known to pronounce it “EE-var”. However, I’m obviously big into names and language so I’m not saying that would be true for everyone. I imagine you’d get “EYE-vuh” mostly, but I personally think that’s a lovely sound too. I guess it depends how important it is to you that the name gets pronounced exactly the same in both languages (FWIW I think you’d have the same issue with Matthías).
Both of your options sound fabulous with Freyja and with [name_m]Karl[/name_m] in the middle. I don’t think the repeated “ar” sound is an issue at all. If I were being utterly utterly nitpicky I might say that Matthías [name_m]Karl[/name_m] fits slightly better on paper with Freyja [name_f]El[/name_f]ísabet because of its visual length, as opposed to the shorter ”var [name_m]Karl[/name_m], but really that’s such a non-issue.
Best of luck! Two little ones is crazy - lovely, but definitely the crazy side of lovely!
I like it, but not so much with [name_m]Karl[/name_m]. [name_m]Ivo[/name_m] (EE-vo), however, is very similar and I think [name_m]Ivo[/name_m] [name_m]Karl[/name_m] would work.
I also think Matthías ”var could be a great combo, although Matthías [name_m]Karl[/name_m] is also nice.
Well, I might be a bit biased, but I totally love [name_m]Ivar[/name_m]! I see the issue with [name_m]Ivar[/name_m] [name_m]Karl[/name_m] but don’t think it sounds bad. The repetition actually makes it distinctive. Matthías [name_m]Karl[/name_m] is also quite handsome, so you have two great names for your list!
Thank you so much everyone! You really swayed me on the combination, I’m so pleased that some of you think it would work nicely with [name_m]Karl[/name_m] - it made me feel so much more confident about it as an option, like at least it’s not unambiguously dreadful! It’s kind of hard to explain it but the way [name_m]Karl[/name_m] is pronounced in Icelandic is so different to in English that audibly it doesn’t really bother me much, in an Icelandic accent at least, just visually I thought it might be a bit weird, like a bit too symmetrical or something…
@tfzolghadr - Thankyou! We could use three given names for sure (it’s not against the law haha) but I wouldn’t. It’s not really my thing. The thing is that ‘middle names’ are very much used in Iceland. It’s often more like you have two first names, like at work if I got an email from Jón [name_m]Helgi[/name_m] Gunnarsson I would reply addressing him as Jón [name_m]Helgi[/name_m], not just Jón unless I specifically knew that he didn’t use his second name. My daughter has both her names used sometimes at playschool and occasionally by her Icelandic grandparents. I appreciate your thoughts!
@katinka - Yes, for sure Matthías would not be issue free either. There are very few ‘perfect’ choices like Freyja that just transfer without any pronunciation issues at all and the ones that I think would be pretty much perfect do not meet with my partner’s approval, haha! I agree that visually Matthías [name_m]Karl[/name_m] has the edge and it may very well end up being his name. I just really don’t like the meaning of Matthías, although that’s basically the only off-putting factor for me so I still think it’s a really strong choice. I do love both EE-var and EYE-vuh, although I hate ma-THIGH-us so that might be a really good point - choose the mistake that I like more!
@southwestsnake - I love [name_m]Ivo[/name_m], both pronunciations! Unfortunately it’s not really on the table for us as we don’t live in an English speaking country. I’m sure we could get ”vó approved if we wanted but I don’t want the hassle to be honest.
@raptreverie - Yeah, seems there might be a bit of a trend in our due dates group! There was another person whose top choice was [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], wasn’t there? Can’t remember who it was off the top of my head, but it would be funny if the thread ended up with three boys named [name_m]Ivo[/name_m], [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] and ”var.
I think it’s incredibly handsome ( I’d never heard of it before, but I’m truly loving it), it sounds wonderful with your daughter’s name, and it’s fine with [name_m]Karl[/name_m].
I am sure I have posted about it before at some point but I can’t quite remember. Anyway, not specifically in relation to this actual baby due in just under 4 weeks!