Scandinavian names for women and men: a list

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Northern peoples are placed in difficult conditions by nature itself, so they have long been accustomed to living harmoniously and solving problems together. And the tradition of giving children certain names comes from the distant past, which is why so many of them are not only beautiful and sonorous, but also ancient. Let's get acquainted with male and female Scandinavian names, their meaning and origin.

General information

Like many other nationalities, the Scandinavians believe that the name given to a person at birth will largely determine his fate, endow him with certain qualities. Therefore, they are very responsible in their choice. Most of the Scandinavian names are associated with the mythological beliefs of the northerners, many variants come from the names of objects of the animal and plant world, often there are two parts in the composition, each of which brings its own shade of meaning.

For men

The inhabitants of the north, the proud Vikings, led a dangerous life full of bloody wars and sumptuous feasts, where wine flowed like water. To someone such a world canseem barbaric, for others - filled with romance. In any case, such traditions could not but be reflected in the male Scandinavian names, each of which endowed its owner with certain character traits. Here are some examples:

• Agmund - protecting from punishment.
• Alfgeir - spear of an elf.
• Anders is brave.
• Ansgar is the spear of Ases, the supreme deities of the Scandinavian pantheon inhabiting Asgard. At their head was the great Odin.
• Bernt is fearless.
• Vardi is a devoted friend who can help in any situation.
• Westgeir means western spear. There was also a Scandinavian male name Westmar meaning "land of the West".
• Georg is the owner of the land.
• Goody is a good man.
• Dyarvi is a daredevil.
• Ingemar - who earned his fame in battles.
• Olaf is next.
• Steinmod is a stone that gives courage.
• Eyvind is the wind that brings happiness.

These are northern male names, but it should be noted that this is by no means a complete list. The Scandinavians are surprisingly inventive, and therefore the names for boys are unusual, beautiful, noble.

Mighty Animals Theme

Often, representatives of the world of fauna became the primary source of Scandinavian male names, who deserved respect in creating fearless northerners. Here are some examples:

• Arnbjorn - an eagle and a bear, a man so named, endowed with courage,fearlessness, readiness to go into battle with the strongest enemy.
• Arnulv is an eagle wolf, also the name of a real warrior, hardened in battles and ready to risk his life.
• Asbjorn - the bear of Ases, the animal was revered in the north as a mighty companion of the gods, sometimes even Odin appeared in his guise.
• Audulv - a rich wolf, consists of two roots - "aud" - welfare, "ulv" - wolf.
• Bjorn is just a bear, but Webjern is a name meaning "holy bear".
• Valgard - protection of the falcon.
• Greenolf is a green wolf. Gunnulv is a wolf who takes part in battles. Ingovolv - the king's wolf.
• Yon is a dove.
• Kjarval is a peaceful whale.
• Orm is a snake.
• Svan - snow-white swan.
• Ulvbjorn is a wolf-bear.
• Hawk - bird hawk.

It was believed that such names endow the boy with valor and courage, which, of course, could help him become a real warrior and take his place in the halls of Valhalla after a heroic death in battle. Now times have changed, so these old Scandinavian names are not held in high esteem, they have given way to more modern European variants.

Beautiful options for girls

Of course, women in the north are no less hardy than men, so often the meaning of their names also had the primary source of animals or birds, for which the struggle for existence is a familiar state. Here are examples of female Scandinavian names:

• Adela is noble.
• Astrid -divine beauty.
• Benedict is a shrine.
• Brynhild is a warrior.
• Vigdis is the deity of war.
• Ingeborg - hurrying to the rescue.
• Inga is domineering.
• Kia is a believer.
• Rebecca - alluring, leading into a trap.
• Swanhilde, Swanhilde - battle of the swan.
• Susanna is a noble lily.
• Freya is the sovereign.
• Hilda - battle, battle.

Names are very diverse, unusual. It should be noted that the barbarian pagan traditions turned out to be so strong that even the adoption of Christianity could not change the traditional Scandinavian female names, they retained their relevance. The Church, seeing that the northerners categorically refuse to name their children in honor of the saints, went to the trick: some Scandinavian heroes were canonized, so their names were included in the names. Until now, girls in Norway and Denmark are sometimes called very beautifully and unusually. Some of the variants were even used by Slavic peoples.

Sound options for real men and real ladies

Among the names of Scandinavian origin, there are many beautiful, modern ones that can be used to name boys, not even necessarily northerners. The examples are quite numerous, some of them are presented in the table.

Mens	Women's
Günther the hunter of wild animals	Annika - endowed with grace
Gerard is a brave man fighting with a spear	Gerda the protectress
Yohaness - bringer of good	Gretta - mother of pearl
Klaus is the winner of nationalities	Ingrid is the protector
Ragnar - the strength of the troops, power	Mia is stubbornness personified
Sigurd is the darling of victory	Solveig - a ray of sunshine
Thor the Thunderer	Hannah is brave
Froude is a sage	Helga is sacred

These are the variants of the names of men and women who came from the countries of Scandinavia. They sound beautiful, have a worthy value, therefore they are often used not only in the north, but also in Europe, America and even Russia. Many Scandinavian names have a formidable, warlike meaning associated with religion or battle. It is possible to note such a feature of the names - the presence of one or two syllables, three- and more complex variants are extremely rare.

For the strongest women

In the list of beautiful Scandinavian names, there are many that sound very unusual, for example, Auda, which means "prosperity". It is interesting that even the variations for girls among the proud northerners are imbued with the spirit of war, physical strength and weapons. Here are some examples:

• Arnkatla - the helmet of an eagle.
• Asgerda - protection of the deity.
• Bera is a bear.
• Sigga is the winner.
• Oona is the lucky one.
• Frigg is the wife of the supreme god Odin.

These are some female namesScandinavia.

Features of construction and use

Regardless of the sex of the newborn, it fell to the father to name him, but often two components were present in the name of the child at once, from the father and from the mother. Even modern variations have managed to preserve their beauty and originality, since the northerners did not follow the beaten European path, but preferred to salute centuries-old traditions. Therefore, such names as Birgitta - towering, Vigdis - under the auspices of the goddess of war, Ilva - a she-wolf, Henrika - a diligent housewife, housekeeper, Hulda - keeping a secret.

However, Scandinavian names do not always have such a long history and deep meaning. Some residents of Denmark and Sweden call their daughters Anna, Maria, Kristina, Elisabeth, Eva - these options are popular all over the world.

Modern trends

Interestingly, the naming culture has survived to the greatest extent in Iceland, where there is a naming committee that strictly monitors how babies are named and can prohibit the use of a particular foreign name. In this country, it is highly desirable to use exactly the ancient variations that were mentioned in the folk epic. But the Swedes and Norwegians often turn to borrowings from England and France.

So, we learned that most of the Scandinavian names refer to the times when people believed informidable gods and the magical connection of a person with an animal - a totem. That is why so many boys and girls have a direct relationship with some kind of patron animal, most often endowed with strength, power and courage. Of course, modernity has invaded the tradition of naming children, so beautiful-sounding ancient names are becoming less and less popular, giving way to common European ones.