Vendela

Even though I've been into Swedish culture and names for a long time and have been speaking Swedish for years as well, this name is actually relatively new to me. I had known about the Finnish Venla but didn't like it much and still don't, because it sounds like venlafaxine and I just can't get over that association. The first time I heard Vendela spoken it sounded to me like two syllables (VEND-la), which reminded me of our Polish word for charcuterie, so I thought it was weird, and it gave me a really old lady-ish vibe, kind of similar to Wanda since I guess the names are sort of distantly related etymologically. But then I've heard of several young girls with this name and was exposed to it a bit more and over time it grew on me a bit. Still not something I love, but I can say it's definitely cool. And I like how it's very distinctly Swedish, but would also work in other cultures no problem, so it probably makes Vendela a really good choice for people who have some Swedish ancestry or are Swedish but live abroad, and want to give their child a very Swedish name that is also usable elsewhere and not something stereotypically Scandinavian like Ingrid or Elsa.

Nice name, I like it.

Genuinely pretty.

This is a beautiful name. Very classy.