It’s not easy finding a name for your daughter. Scandinavian girls’ names are often very beautiful. Maybe recommended for you? In this article you can read more about girl names from Scandinavia.
Scandinavian girl names in general
Scandinavia consists of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. Scandinavian girl names are usually variations on well-known names. For example, the Scandinavian Anika is a corruption of Anna. The Scandinavian Jonna is in turn a corruption of Johanna.
Other Scandinavian names have a mythical background. Girls’ names from Norse mythology are especially widely used. Freya is an example of this. An alternative spelling of Freya is Freia.
However, in Scandinavia not only Scandinavian names are used. Internationally famous names are also given to girls. In 2011, Alice was the most popular girl’s name in Sweden. That year, Emma was the most commonly given girl’s name in Denmark, Finland and Norway. If you live in a Scandinavian country, you do not necessarily have to look for a Scandinavian name for your daughter.
Scandinavian girl names in the Netherlands
Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish names are quite popular with Dutch parents. Icelandic names are not widely used in our country. Ingrid is the most common Scandinavian girl’s name in the Netherlands. Inge is also a Scandinavian name that is often used by Dutch people. It is striking that Inge is considered a boy’s name in Sweden and Norway.
According to several studies, there is a relationship between social class and first names. These studies show that Dutch parents who give their child a Scandinavian name have an average income.
List of Scandinavian girl names
Below you will find a list of more than 50 Scandinavian girls’ names. The names are in alphabetical order. You can also read the meaning of the names from this table.
| Name | Meaning |
| Anneli | Lovely |
| Anika/Annika | Lovely |
| Astrid | Divine beauty |
| Bente | Blessed |
| Bine | Representative |
| Birgit | Exalted |
| Birte/Birthe | Exalted |
| Bodil | Medicine, struggle |
| Britt/Britta | Exalted |
| Dagmar | Fame |
| Eira | Goddess of healing in Norse mythology |
| Eli | Dedicated to God |
| Elin | Torch |
| Elva | Elf |
| Freia/Freya | The goddess of fertility and love in Norse mythology |
| Hedda | Conflict |
| Ingeborg | God of protection in Germanic mythology |
| Ingrid | Beautiful |
| Irja | Peace |
| Jonna | God is propitiatory |
| Kaia/Kaja | Pure, virginal |
| Kari | Pure, virginal |
| Kirsten | Christian |
| Line | Joy |
| Linnea | Flower |
| Lis | Dedicated to God |
| Liv | Protector |
| Lotta | Female |
| Maiken | Sea |
| Malin | Originating from Magdala |
| Maren | From the sea |
| Marit | Pearl |
| Marte | Lady |
| Mette | Pearl |
| Minna | Popular protector |
| Nilsa | Champion |
| Rick | Peaceful |
| Ronja | Creation of writer Astrid Lindgren (see the book Ronja the robber’s daughter ) |
| Runa | Secret spell |
| Saga | Goddess of poetry in Norse mythology |
| Sanna | Truth |
| Senya | Hospitality |
| Sigrid | Beautiful victory |
| Silja | The path for a blind man |
| Stina | Christian |
| Svea | Sweden |
| Tilda | Strength in battle |
| Tordis | The goddess of Thor |
| Tove | Nice |
| Tuva | Nice |
| Tyra | War and justice |
| Ylva | She-wolf |
Other Scandinavian girl names?
Of course, this article only lists a small selection of Scandinavian girls’ names. If you are looking for other girl names from Scandinavia, you can take a look on the internet. Most name sites contain alphabetical lists of Scandinavian first names.
However, you should be careful about the reliability of some sites. For example, it is suggested on some of these sites that the girl’s name Svenja is a Scandinavian name . However, this is not true. The boy’s name Sven is indeed Scandinavian. Svenja is a German name derived from the Scandinavian Sven.
read more
- Scandinavian boy names