You can better pronounce those Scandinavian Names using the following rules of thumb. Plain text versions of the special characters are also given. Norway, Denmark, and Iceland use the main characters shown, those wacky Swedes insist on being different.
Historical Notes
The region for which the names are appropriate includes modern Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, but the names can be used in any region influenced by these people. During the 13th century Christian names, such as the names of saints or from Biblical sources, began to replace the old Norse names.
Members of the noblilty use patronomikons as surnames. This takes the form of (name)-sen in Denmark and Norway and (name)-son in Sweden. Noble women use the suffix -datter, -dottir, or -dotter in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, respectively to indicate who their father was. Sometimes noble women keep this surname after marriage. Honorifics are "herr" for men and "fru" for women.
Commoners often identified themselves by their place of origin or by some distinctive feature, e.g., Snorre the Bald, Freya of Asgard.
Sites Relating to Swedish Names
Akademialmanackan Namnlista Namn - names used in Sweden Släktforskarförbundets Namnlista Swedish Names My List of Swedish Names Swedish Name Day Calendar Swedish Feminine Names from the 13th Century KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author.
A catalog of name days from the Svenska Akademien. Users can view the names either chronologically or alphabetically, and variants and pet names are listed alongside the original forms.
Name days, origins, and meanings (in Swedish), from DataDux.
Swedish names with notes about their origins (in Swedish) from Håkan Skogsjö.
A collection of names from Kate Monk
Monikers drawn from a Scandinavian name day calendar as well as several old Swedish family trees.
Swedish names and name days for 1997 from ScandinaviUS .
An analysis by Lindorm Eriksson (Christer Romson) of a volume containing a slew of Swedish economic and legal documents written between 1286-1310. This page lists the names of the ~230 women mentioned in these papers (although many names are repeats).
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