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Help[Facts] So many bad name sites out there (a little warning)
I didn't really know where to put this, I hope it's OK to post it here.
This is one of few really GOOD name sites I have visited. Mostly you find cuddly-cute baby name sites that are about...22% correct. I can't UNDERSTAND where they get their "information" from, because so many things are just SO DARN WRONG.
I guess you can find LOTS of errors, but obviously I don't know the naming traditions in all cultures. Often, though, the Swedish (and, on the whole, Scandinavian) names are not very Swedish...
Adolphus - this is some kind of Latinized form of Adolf. And although Adolf used to be a common - even royal - name in Sweden, no one, absolutely NO ONE uses it today. You know why.
Alberik - OK, we have Alrik, but it's very rare.
Am and Ame - I guess they mean Arn and Arne. Arne is common. Arn is not commonly used.
Andenon - I've never seen this.
Ang - doesn't mean anything; not a name.
Antonetta - definitely not common.
Antonius - also old and Latinized. But Anton is common.
Annike - we usually use Annika.
Atali - never seen.
Basmus - have they misread Rasmus? I've never seen Basmus!
Beck - a surname. ONLY.
Berg - ditto.
Bergren - doesn't exist. Berggren exists, but it's a surname. ONLY.
Bergron - ditto.
Blasius - never used.
Blix - a surname. ONLY.
Borg - ditto.
Brand - not a name. Means "fire" or "conflagration".
Brigetta - it's spelled Birgitta.
Brite - it's spelled Brita, Britt or Britta.
Borr - means drill in Swedish. Definitely not a name.
Burr - this means either "big, curly hair" in Sweden, or it's something we say when we are cold, like "brrr!" It's definitely not a name!
Caesar - definitely not common.
Caren - the normal Swedish form is Karin.
Davin - no, but David is common.
Denholm - sounds like some kind of Americanized Swedish surname.
Dolph - yes, Dolph Lundgren is Swedish, but his name is taken. He was Christened Hans.
Dufvenius - a surname.
Fisk - means FISH. It's NOT a name!
Fredek - doesn't exist.
Frederek, Frederika - it's spelled Fredrik and Fredrika.
Gala - it means what it means in English - a gala. It can also mean "sound like a rooster". It's not used as a name.
Garth - definitely not Swedish.
Gorin - doesn't exist. But Göran is common.
Gudruna - must be a very old form. Nowadays it's spelled Gudrun.
Gunnef - doesn't exist. But Gunnel is common.
Hakana - doesn't exist. But Håkan is common. And spell it Håkan! "Hakan" means "the chin".
Hallen - means "the hall". Not a name.
Haylan - doesn't exit.
Humfrid - never seen.
Jaythen - sounds Hindi to me.
Jonam - never seen.
Kfister - it's spelled Krister.
Lang - a surname. ONLY.
Lucio - this is Italian.
Lunt - never seen.
Maklolm - it's spelled Malkolm.
Marira - it's spelled Maria.
Nansen - a Norwegian surname.
Quenby, Quinby - we don't have any names beginning with Q.
Ragnara - Ragnar is pretty common, but I've never seen a feminine version of it.
Rosel - looks German or Yiddish to me. Rosa is the usual Swedish form.
Samson, Simson - definitely not common.
Saul - have never seen it being used in Sweden.
Svav - doesn't mean anything. But Svava is used in Iceland.
Tait - never used.
Thorbiartl - looks like some old Icelandic name.
Tianna - never seen.
Tille - never seen.
Tobyn - never seen.
Torberta - probably extremely rare.
Toreth - never seen.
Torn - means tower. Definitely not a name.
Tosha - looks like Hindi to me.
Trind - means fat. Definitely not a name!
Tripper - well, this actually means the kind of "trips" you get from drugs. Definitely not a name!
Valbotg - it's spelled Valborg.
Valen - means either "the choices" or "the whale" in Swedish.
Valeraine - never seen.
Vallonia - well, many Swedes have Walloon heritage, but we don't use Vallonia as a name!
Veli - looks more Finnish to me.
Verochka - this is Russian. Ve use Veronika or Veronica.
Vilho - looks Finnish.
Viljami - Finnish. Swedes use Vilhelm.
Vince - we use Vincent, but it's not very common. We don't use Vince.
Virag - this is Hungarian.
Vishnu - this is a HINDU GOD!
Vivien - no, we use Vivianne.
Yocheved - this is Hebrew.
This is one of few really GOOD name sites I have visited. Mostly you find cuddly-cute baby name sites that are about...22% correct. I can't UNDERSTAND where they get their "information" from, because so many things are just SO DARN WRONG.
I guess you can find LOTS of errors, but obviously I don't know the naming traditions in all cultures. Often, though, the Swedish (and, on the whole, Scandinavian) names are not very Swedish...
Adolphus - this is some kind of Latinized form of Adolf. And although Adolf used to be a common - even royal - name in Sweden, no one, absolutely NO ONE uses it today. You know why.
Alberik - OK, we have Alrik, but it's very rare.
Am and Ame - I guess they mean Arn and Arne. Arne is common. Arn is not commonly used.
Andenon - I've never seen this.
Ang - doesn't mean anything; not a name.
Antonetta - definitely not common.
Antonius - also old and Latinized. But Anton is common.
Annike - we usually use Annika.
Atali - never seen.
Basmus - have they misread Rasmus? I've never seen Basmus!
Beck - a surname. ONLY.
Berg - ditto.
Bergren - doesn't exist. Berggren exists, but it's a surname. ONLY.
Bergron - ditto.
Blasius - never used.
Blix - a surname. ONLY.
Borg - ditto.
Brand - not a name. Means "fire" or "conflagration".
Brigetta - it's spelled Birgitta.
Brite - it's spelled Brita, Britt or Britta.
Borr - means drill in Swedish. Definitely not a name.
Burr - this means either "big, curly hair" in Sweden, or it's something we say when we are cold, like "brrr!" It's definitely not a name!
Caesar - definitely not common.
Caren - the normal Swedish form is Karin.
Davin - no, but David is common.
Denholm - sounds like some kind of Americanized Swedish surname.
Dolph - yes, Dolph Lundgren is Swedish, but his name is taken. He was Christened Hans.
Dufvenius - a surname.
Fisk - means FISH. It's NOT a name!
Fredek - doesn't exist.
Frederek, Frederika - it's spelled Fredrik and Fredrika.
Gala - it means what it means in English - a gala. It can also mean "sound like a rooster". It's not used as a name.
Garth - definitely not Swedish.
Gorin - doesn't exist. But Göran is common.
Gudruna - must be a very old form. Nowadays it's spelled Gudrun.
Gunnef - doesn't exist. But Gunnel is common.
Hakana - doesn't exist. But Håkan is common. And spell it Håkan! "Hakan" means "the chin".
Hallen - means "the hall". Not a name.
Haylan - doesn't exit.
Humfrid - never seen.
Jaythen - sounds Hindi to me.
Jonam - never seen.
Kfister - it's spelled Krister.
Lang - a surname. ONLY.
Lucio - this is Italian.
Lunt - never seen.
Maklolm - it's spelled Malkolm.
Marira - it's spelled Maria.
Nansen - a Norwegian surname.
Quenby, Quinby - we don't have any names beginning with Q.
Ragnara - Ragnar is pretty common, but I've never seen a feminine version of it.
Rosel - looks German or Yiddish to me. Rosa is the usual Swedish form.
Samson, Simson - definitely not common.
Saul - have never seen it being used in Sweden.
Svav - doesn't mean anything. But Svava is used in Iceland.
Tait - never used.
Thorbiartl - looks like some old Icelandic name.
Tianna - never seen.
Tille - never seen.
Tobyn - never seen.
Torberta - probably extremely rare.
Toreth - never seen.
Torn - means tower. Definitely not a name.
Tosha - looks like Hindi to me.
Trind - means fat. Definitely not a name!
Tripper - well, this actually means the kind of "trips" you get from drugs. Definitely not a name!
Valbotg - it's spelled Valborg.
Valen - means either "the choices" or "the whale" in Swedish.
Valeraine - never seen.
Vallonia - well, many Swedes have Walloon heritage, but we don't use Vallonia as a name!
Veli - looks more Finnish to me.
Verochka - this is Russian. Ve use Veronika or Veronica.
Vilho - looks Finnish.
Viljami - Finnish. Swedes use Vilhelm.
Vince - we use Vincent, but it's not very common. We don't use Vince.
Virag - this is Hungarian.
Vishnu - this is a HINDU GOD!
Vivien - no, we use Vivianne.
Yocheved - this is Hebrew.
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Replies
Annike - It looks more Dutch to me. I think that's because the similar name Anneke is an authentic Dutch name.
Borg - Reminds me of "cyborg".
Caesar - sounds rather pretentious to name your child. I know a Cesare from Italy and three guys named Cesar - one from Portugal, two from Spain. But I don't think Sweden is as big on Latin names as, say, Italy or Spain. (There are a lot of Latin names used in Italy that have no English equivalent, such as Clelia.)
Gorin - looks Yugoslavian to me.
Hakana - Hakan (without the thing over the A) is a Turkish name that means "emperor" - it derives from the Mongol title khagan. There's a famous Turkish soccer player named Hakan Sukur. It does have a female counterpart - Hatun (from the title khatun, meaning "empress"), which isn't as common as its male form. But Hakana isn't a name there.
Lucio - could the writer be more confused in listing this as Swedish?
Torn - who would use that? In English, it wouldn't go well, either. (I also think of the Natalie Imbruglia song, which I do like.)
Tosha - this could be a Russian nickname, but I'm not sure.
Trind - sounds like Sarah Palin would use it.
Valeraine - I'm thinking this is a misspelling of Valerienne, a very rare but legit French name. (It's French for Valeriana.)
Veli - looks more Finnish to me.
Vishnu - This doesn't even look like anything European. How could a Hindu god's name get into the Swedish name list?
I'm Lebanese, and I hear the same with Arabic names - often ascribing names the wrong meaning. Dumb sites also take names that sound remotely Arabic, even if they're not. Amaya is a good example of that - I didn't even think it was a real name until I found it on this site.
Borg - Reminds me of "cyborg".
Caesar - sounds rather pretentious to name your child. I know a Cesare from Italy and three guys named Cesar - one from Portugal, two from Spain. But I don't think Sweden is as big on Latin names as, say, Italy or Spain. (There are a lot of Latin names used in Italy that have no English equivalent, such as Clelia.)
Gorin - looks Yugoslavian to me.
Hakana - Hakan (without the thing over the A) is a Turkish name that means "emperor" - it derives from the Mongol title khagan. There's a famous Turkish soccer player named Hakan Sukur. It does have a female counterpart - Hatun (from the title khatun, meaning "empress"), which isn't as common as its male form. But Hakana isn't a name there.
Lucio - could the writer be more confused in listing this as Swedish?
Torn - who would use that? In English, it wouldn't go well, either. (I also think of the Natalie Imbruglia song, which I do like.)
Tosha - this could be a Russian nickname, but I'm not sure.
Trind - sounds like Sarah Palin would use it.
Valeraine - I'm thinking this is a misspelling of Valerienne, a very rare but legit French name. (It's French for Valeriana.)
Veli - looks more Finnish to me.
Vishnu - This doesn't even look like anything European. How could a Hindu god's name get into the Swedish name list?
I'm Lebanese, and I hear the same with Arabic names - often ascribing names the wrong meaning. Dumb sites also take names that sound remotely Arabic, even if they're not. Amaya is a good example of that - I didn't even think it was a real name until I found it on this site.
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Oh, thank you, thank you.
My new nickname for our cat is Valen.
My new nickname for our cat is Valen.
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Most of them are bullsht astrology "meanings", or pink flowery lists of newfangled popular names for mothers that give little to no actual info. This is the only name site that has real respectable etymology, and isn`t designed for maternity.
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Where they get their "information" from? I think I can answer that question: Mostly from each other :)
Really, what I myself see again and again looking for info about names is the *same* wrong information on multiple sites. So people do not seem to simply make up their stuff, but to mostly copy from each other endlessly.
Really, what I myself see again and again looking for info about names is the *same* wrong information on multiple sites. So people do not seem to simply make up their stuff, but to mostly copy from each other endlessly.
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As for the surname thing --
Part of that is simply the difference in customs and laws about using surnames as given names in English-speaking countries vs. Sweden. Because there is no restriction on turning surnames into given names in English-speaking countries, most people in those countries (especially the USA and Canada) often think of given names and surnames as being about the same thing. Since in the USA there is no problem with giving a child, especially a boy, a name like Beck, Blix, or Lang as a given name, it wouldn't occur to most Americans making a list of "Swedish names" that there would be anything wrong with including them, since they do have a Swedish origin.
Part of that is simply the difference in customs and laws about using surnames as given names in English-speaking countries vs. Sweden. Because there is no restriction on turning surnames into given names in English-speaking countries, most people in those countries (especially the USA and Canada) often think of given names and surnames as being about the same thing. Since in the USA there is no problem with giving a child, especially a boy, a name like Beck, Blix, or Lang as a given name, it wouldn't occur to most Americans making a list of "Swedish names" that there would be anything wrong with including them, since they do have a Swedish origin.
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I know, but then they shouldn't be listed as "Swedish names". In Sweden we have very restricted laws about not using surnames as first names (no, I don't know why). You are allowed to use first names like Pebbles, Passionfruit, Star, Summercloud, Twilight, etc, but not Nilsson, Lindgren or Strindberg.
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LOLOL
I'd rather be Nillson than Summercloud.
I'd rather be Nillson than Summercloud.
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I found them on different sites when I googled "Swedish baby names".
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What makes a name Swedish or Scandinavian depends on the definition you use.
Some names might have dropped out of use but were often given in Scandinavia hundreds of years ago.
Other names could originate as words in Scandinavia even though they are not in use as names there.
I wished some name sites would put more effort into research and explanation of the information they are providing.
But you are right many baby name sites give a lot of wrong details and don't mind it.
Some names might have dropped out of use but were often given in Scandinavia hundreds of years ago.
Other names could originate as words in Scandinavia even though they are not in use as names there.
I wished some name sites would put more effort into research and explanation of the information they are providing.
But you are right many baby name sites give a lot of wrong details and don't mind it.
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Where did you get thís?
Brand is Old Norse, and I've seen Blasius, Antonius, Antonetta, and Samson in the 19th and 18th centuries, so they could be called Swedish/Scandinavian I guess. Forms and spellings like Adolphus, Brigetta, Frederek and Frederika weren't uncommon in those times either, but they're definitely not the standard ones.
And Fisk. XD There actually are some, according to SCB, but it seems to be a "gårdsnamn" from Dalarna.
Brand is Old Norse, and I've seen Blasius, Antonius, Antonetta, and Samson in the 19th and 18th centuries, so they could be called Swedish/Scandinavian I guess. Forms and spellings like Adolphus, Brigetta, Frederek and Frederika weren't uncommon in those times either, but they're definitely not the standard ones.
And Fisk. XD There actually are some, according to SCB, but it seems to be a "gårdsnamn" from Dalarna.
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Where did you find it?
Yes, lots of baby name sites are very inaccurate.
Yes, lots of baby name sites are very inaccurate.
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