I love this name! Not too common, but yet not weird. First namesake to come to my mind is Linus Pauling, only person to win two individual Nobel Prizes (and in Marie Curie's excellent company if we include Nobel Prizes won as part of a group).
Looking at this site's Pronunciation Guide, the Swedish pronunciation should be more like LEE-nuus or LEE-nuws. You can listen to the pronunciation here: https://forvo.com/search/Linus/sv/. UY as in French "feu" (used as an example in the Pronunciation Guide) sounds more like how Swedes pronounce the letter Y.
― Anonymous User 5/1/2021
3
I really like this name. I don't mind the Peanuts connotations, since Linus is my favourite of the group anyways. It's a cute name, and unique, but not too weird.
Linus and Lucy from Charlie Brown, that's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about or hear this name. Anyways I like it, I think it is cute and short. I agree noisynora, emily, and Liesl!
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized), Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, English (Rare), Popular CultureScripts: Λινος (Ancient Greek)Pronounced: LIE-nəs (English), LI-nuys (Swedish, Dutch), LEH-noos (Danish), LI-nuws (German), LEE-noos (Finnish)Meaning: From the Greek name Λινος (Linos) which means "flax". In Greek mythology, he was the son of the god Apollo, who accidentally killed him in a contest. Another son of Apollo by this name was the music teacher of Herakles (known in Roman mythology as Hercules). The name was also borne by the second pope, Pope St. Linus, who served after St. Peter in the 1st century. In modern times, it was used by American Chemist Linus Pauling (1901-1994), and software engineer Linus Torvalds (1969-pres.). In Popular Culture, it was used by a character in Charles Schulz's comic strip 'Peanuts'.
When will it be popular in the US? Please don't say never, because it only had popularity in Sweden, but it never had a chance here or Canada. Shame for us.
I understand that the given name Linus was never as popular in the US as it had been in Europe, dominantly Sweden. But despite the connection to Charles Schulz's Peanuts character, I expect Linus to pave its way up to the top 10 names in the future, sometime during either the 2020s or later, joining in with Maverick and Liam. But take famous bearers such as Pope Linus, chemist Linus Pauling, and Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark into consideration.
Linus Gabriel Sebastian is a Canadian YouTube personality, presenter, producer, and founder of Linus Media Group. He is best known for creating and hosting three technology-oriented YouTube channels LinusTechTips, Techquickie and Channel Super Fun which have a combined subscriber base of 6.010 million. From 2007-2015 he had also been a regular presenter of technology videos for the Canadian computer retailer NCIX. In 2015, Inc. Magazine ranked Sebastian 4th in a list of the "Top 30 Power Players in Tech".
Linus is the name we chose for our last little dumpling! More specifically, he is named after the Nobel Prize winning scientist, Linus Pauling. Hardly anyone has made a "Peanuts" reference.. Most of the time the only pop culture connection people make is with Linux :)
I like this name, I'm using it for my own son. I'm moving to Sweden when I'm older, so it's going to be pronounced the Swedish way, which I think sounds pretty. And by the time he's going to go to school, most of the kids probably won't even know what Peanuts is, lessening his chances for teasing.
― Anonymous User 6/24/2013
3
I knew an adorable young boy with this name, and it's kind of grown on me since. I can see why the Peanuts connection would make some skeptical, but a lot of the little boy's peers hadn't even read the Peanuts comic strip, so they didn't tease him at all. Not sure if I'd use this name on my own son, but I think it's a great name regardless. :)
― Anonymous User 7/30/2012
8
I think Linus is a great name, with a positive associate with Linus from Peanuts; a sweet, intellectual and trustworthy boy. I'd use it as a middle name, though, rather than a first name, because the association would inevitably lead to teasing and blanket jokes.
I can kind of understand why people don't like it. I don't find it very attractive in English either. But it's one of my FAVORITE names in German (LEE-nuws) I would definitely use this for a future son. I think it's adorable for a child, but ages well. And, I think, it's timeless.(:
I think that origin of this name is rather from Lithuanian Linas name, which is very widespread in our country. Meaning of this name is also flax. Lithuanian language is one of the oldest Indo-European languages in Europe and this name is very old.
Love it! It's adorable for a little boy. For a man it sounds a bit dashing. I am surprised at the intensity with which some people dislike this name. I think the Peanuts association is a positive-- Linus was a sweet character! With the current trend of parents choosing unique names, I would not be surprised if a few people chose this name.
I personally find this name to be charming. I didn't make any connection to "Peanuts" at all. I don't understand the bad feelings toward this name. It's lovable, and not as "weird" or unheard of as other names ending in "us".
This is such an unattractive name, in my humble opinion. It also reminds me of the word 'anus.'
― Anonymous User 3/15/2007
-13
I was fine with this name when I was younger, but now it grates on my ears (thanks to the obnoxious English pronunciation and the connection to "Peanuts"). This name will get a boy nothing but teasing and calls of "Where's your blanket?"