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[Opinions] Norwegian Names
I don't know if we have any Norwegians that frequent the board, so this is a question for everyone.
What Norwegian names do you consider uncommon, fairly common, and popular? What Norwegian names would you consider using and what Norwegian names would you never use? Which Norwegian names do you think would fare well in the US and which ones would work better in Norway?
The names can be female or male.
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My daughter's name is Sunniva, and i think it's totally usable in the US. i think it's #45 or so in Norway, but very uncommon here.However, i live in a quaint little Norwegian town in the midwest, so i am finding several, "i had an aunt/grandma/best friend named Sunniva"'s, etc. My friend just named her baby Bjorn, which i thought was a stretch, but i am liking it more and more and think it will work fine in the US.i would so much rather a Sunniva or Bjorn than a Mackenzie, so i would celebrate any Norwegian name you chose!
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"i would so much rather a Sunniva or Bjorn than a Mackenzie, so i would celebrate any Norwegian name you chose!"I suppose that is a great way to think about it.
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i know a norwegian/american couple. they have two small boys and they're called markus and mattias. not your typical norwegian names but they made it work. they lived in the states and now they live in norway. so i guess it works in both countries. as i've noticed lately in norway they seem to step away from your "traditional" norse names and use more popular universal names, like emma, anna, angelica, alexander, mattias, markus.nice norwegian names i think would work are liv, hanna, grete, kari for girls and magnus and stian, for boys.hope this helps.
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A family I go to church with has children with Norwegian names:Kjell (prouncounced Chell)
Kjersti (pn. Shear-stee)
Kari (pronounced Car-ee)
Kristina
Katie(ok, so some of them are not entirely Norwegian)If I think of any others, i will let you know (a lot of the church members are Norwegian- it is a Lutheran Brethren church)
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These are some Norwegian names that I think would work well in the USA and also IMO are not extremely common. But they probably are heard of.Girls:
Alva
Karita
LiseBoys:
Espen
Halvdan
Nils
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Do you think that after the ESPN debacle that Espen is usable? I remember hearing someone posting something to the effect of "Omg, I saw someone named Espen today and I can't believe they copied those stupid parents that named their kid after the sports station." I had to kindly correct said individual. Will people in the US think that Espen is just a version of ESPN?
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I didn't think of ESPN. I thought it more close to Aspen. But I see your point entirely. I bet some people would associate the two.
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I would much rather have an Aspen association than an ESPN association.
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I'm of Norwegian heritage, and I know (or have known) people named Solveig, Lars, Jens, Sigrid, Signy, Ingrid, Astrid, Bjorn, Thor (x2), Freya, Maja, Andreas, etc. They've all survived well enough, so I'd include those names on the list of workable Norwegian names in the US.Array
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