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Sweets from Sweden

© Kristen Hanley Cardozo

This month we have Swedish names. A lot of Swedish names sound very modern and fashionable in English, and perhaps it doesn’t hurt that there are a lot of K’s where there are C’s in English. The current trend in the States tends to favor K over C anyway. While I don’t personally approve the idea as a change of English spelling, the dedicated parent can find plenty of “legitimate” K names in Scandinavian baby name books. With the current mania for Celtic and Gaelic names, a lot of other European names are being neglected. Here are some Swedish names that may appeal to American parents.

Scandinavian names are very similar to German names, and there’s a reason for this. In the beginning, one could say, Germanic barbarian tribes emigrated from western Asia to the Scandinavian region. By the early Middle Ages, these tribes had settled the region and were divided into many different groups, each with its own language. As Christianity permeated the region, many Christian and Biblical names were adopted, but a strong regionalism prompted the locals to give these names a Nordic quality.

Swedish surnames are a recent innovation. Until 1901, the Swedes named their children a given name, and the surname was the father’s given name with the suffix son or dotter. The “son” last name tradition can still be seen in many English and Scandanavian last names, but the “dotter” names petered out after Scandinavians were compelled to accept hereditary surnames.

Boys
Anders (AHN-ders) “manly”
Bjorn (BYORN) “bear”
Dag (DAG) “day”
Edvard (ED-var) “wealthy guardian”, namesake: Edvard Munch
Eilert (Ī-lert) “strong point”
Emanuel (ih-MAN-yool) “God is with us”
Erik (ERR-rik) “ever powerful eternal ruler”
Erlend (ERR-len) “foreigner”
Filip (FIL-IP) “lover of horses”
Frans (FRAHNSS) “a Frenchman”
Greger (GREE-GER) “vigilant, watchful”
Gustaf (GOOS-toff) “staff of the Goths”
Hallsten (HAHL-STEHN) “rock, stone”
Hans (HAHNS) nickname for Johannes, “God is gracious”
Henrick (HEN-rik) “home ruler”
Ingmar (ING-mar) “famous Ing”, namesake: Ingmar Bergman
Isak (EE-sahk) “he will laugh”
Jacob (YAH-KOOB) “the supplanter, to seize by the heel”
Johan (yoh-HAHN) “God is gracious”
Kai (KĪ) uncertain meaning…it could mean “hen”, or it could be derived from Gaius
Karl (KARL) “freeman”
Kennet (KANE-net) “handsome, comely”
Kristian (KREES-tee-an) “Christian”
Kristoffer (krees-TOH-fur) “Christ bearer”
Leif (LAFE) “to leave”, or “beloved”
Magnus (MAG-nes) “great, large”
Marcus (MAHR-kus) “war-like”, or “manly”, or “soft, tender”, depending on which root word you believe it derives from
Marten (MAHR-ten) “warlike”
Mathias (mah-THEE-us) “gift of God”
Nathanael (nah-thah-NALE) “gift of God”
Niklas (NIH-KLAHS) “victory of the people”
Oskar (OH-sker) “spear of the gods”
Rikard (REE-kar) “brave ruler”
Rolf (RAWLF) a contracted form of Rudolf, “famous wolf”

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