Elsa

Along with dozens of other names, Elsa comes from the name Elizabeth.  Of course, Elizabeth comes from the Greek form of the Hebrew name Elisheva. It means either "my God is an oath", "my God is abundance" or "pledged to God". Elizabeth has been extremely consistent in its popularity over the years, having always been in the Top 30 since 1880.

The lovely German Elsa is also very consistent in its popularity since 1880 in the US. Since the release of the wildly successful movie Disney's Frozen in November 2013 featuring a Queen Elsa, the baby name Elsa is expected to leap up the charts in 2014.  Before Frozen, Elsa originally gained popularity as a name among English speakers because of Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin in 1848. Elsa was the name of the heroine in the opera.

I chose to feature Elsa as part of Scandinavian week because, while it is mostly used in Germany, it also has usage in the Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden and Norway. Even Iceland has love for it!

Here in the US, Queen Elsa is everywhere these days so if you love the name Elsa but want to avoid trends and popularity, perhaps you should consider Elsie or Elise instead. In 2013, there were 560 baby girls named Elsa for a ranking of #528. Right now it isn't ranked too high but I expect this name to break into the 300s, at least, in 2014.

What do you think? Do you know any babies named Elsa? If so, what are their siblings named? What middle name did they receive? Here are some ideas if you're in need:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Annabelle, Charlotte, Grace, Hallie, Johanna, Olivia, Tilly
Brothers: Axel, Charles, Erik, Henry, Matthias, Miles, Sebastian

Middle Name Ideas:
Elsa Corinne
Elsa Juliet
Elsa Margaret
Elsa Violet

As a Middle Name:
Dagny Elsa
Harper Elsa
Kiersten Elsa
Maren Elsa

Elsa is a bit difficult to put in the middle name spot and also achieve good flow from first to middle to last, so it'd probably fit best in the first name spot.  What names would you suggest to go with Elsa?

World-Wide Wednesday: Scandinavian Baby Names

This edition of World-Wide Wednesday focuses on the baby names of Scandinavia. This includes the three kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. These three countries are also categorized as Nordic countries along with Finland, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe islands. There is plenty of overlapping influence between the countries that sometimes is translated into their baby names. Most baby name sites group all of these together as one overall "origin" called Scandinavian names.

In general, surnames, or "heritable family names", weren't used often in Scandinavia until rather recently in comparison with some other countries. In Denmark, an act was passed in 1526 that made families of nobility have to begin using a heritable name. High class people followed suit during the next few centuries and finally everyone else did later. They followed a patronymic naming tradition that gave the father's name to the children with the suffix "-sen" added to the end. For example, the son of a man named Jens would be given the surname Jensen. 

There have been many naming acts passed since 1771, that made citizens have to give up traditional primary patronymics in favor of choosing a single patronymic surname to use as their heritable family name. What resulted was an overwhelming dominance of a few specific surnames. About one-third of the Danish population have one of the ten most common surnames. More than two-thirds of people have a patronymic name that end with -sen. However, in 2005, Denmark ruled that people could once again use patronymic surnames as a replacement for or in addition to traditional surnames. 

In Norway, the most common surnames were also patronymic and usually ended with either "-ssen", "-sson", "-sdatter", or "-sdotter" with the first two referring to a son and the last two referring to a daughter. For example, the daughter of Jon would be given the surname Jonsdotter while her brother would be called Jonsson. In more recent times, the extra S is often dropped: Hansen instead of Hanssen. 

In 1923, a law was passed that made each Norwegian family choose a single, hereditary last name. Any surname that is derived from a place name usually originated as a farm name that was sometimes taken instead of a patronymic one. However today, place names are much more common than a patronymic name. The popular farm names tend to include either Bakke/Bakken meaning "hill or rise", Berg/Berge meaning "mountain or hill", Haugen/Daugan meaning "hill or mound", Dahl/Dal meaning "valley", Lie meaning "side of a valley", Moen meaning "meadow" or Rud meaning "clearing". Since 2002, the option of using patronymic surnames was once again available.

Swedish surnames are originally patronymic with the most common ending being "-sson". However, in 1901, an act was passed that abolished the practice of handing down patronymic names. Everyone one had to have a specific family surname that was inherited by each generation. Swedish families tend to like names that have to do with nature. A few examples include Lind meaning "linden", Berg meaning "mountain", Dahl/Dahlin meaning "valley" or Alström/Ahlström meaning "alder + stream".  They sometimes build into the family name information about where the family came from. For example, the Strindberg family came from Strinne. There are also some family names that have to do with war such as Skarpsvärd meaning "sharp sword" or Sköld meaning "shield". Since 1982, they've been allowed to use patronymic names again.

In Iceland, they still use patronymic surnames almost exclusively. There are a few heritable surnames passed down, but nearly all Icelanders follow the patronymic method of naming. This includes giving sons the suffix -son and daughters get the suffix -dóttir.  Iceland is very specific and picky about which names parents are allowed to use. There is a Naming Committee that must approve names, especially new ones that have never been used in the country before. The names must be easily used in the Icelandic language and use their alphabet, and they have to be gender specific. Nearly everyone has their father's name incorporated into their last name, but occasionally, matronymic names are used instead. This occurs when the child is to have no social tie to the father or if the mother wishes to make a social statement.

Now that we've covered how naming traditions generally work now and in the past, let's take a look at some examples of Scandinavian baby names.

The following names are somewhat anglicized and therefore a little easier for American children to wear:

Girls: Annika                                Annelise Astrid Axelia Brigitta Cilla Dagny Elin Elsa Erika Freya Greta Heidi Helga Ingrid Johanna Kaia Kirsten Liv Magda Milla Novalie Oletta Selma Signy Sigrid Siri Sylvi Thora Tilda Tyra Ulrika Viveka

Boys: Anders Anton Ari Axel Bo Carl Casper Claus Erik Finn Gunnar Gustav Hans Hendrick Ivor Jannick Jensen Johan Kai Lars Leif Magnus Odin Otto Ralph Rasmus Sander Soren Stellan Thor Torsten Ulrik Viggo

If you're looking for some names that are very heavily influenced by the countries and languages of Scandinavia, here is a nice collection starting with the girls first:

Abelone                              Aili Aira Alfhild Anneli Arnhild Arvida Åse Asta Astri Aura Beata Bryndis Brynhild Brynja Dagmar Dagrun Ebba Edda Eila Eira Ellevi Ellisif Embla Eydis Fideli Frigg Gudrun Gyda Hallgjerd Hedda Hedvig Henrika Hildur Hillevi Hjordis Hulda Inari Ingeborg Ingegerd Ingvild Kaisa Kajsa Karelia Katri

Kjersti Lærke Lemmitty Lillevi Liva Lova Lumi Lykke Mæja Maiken Maila Merete Meri Metta Mieli Minea Moa Nemi Pernilla Ragna Ragnhild Saga Salla Sella Senni Sigrid Sigrun Silja Sini Sóley Solveig Sunniva Suvi Svea Synnøve Taina Tarina Tella Tordis Torny Tova Vanja Veslemøy Vigdis Ylva

And the boy names:

Åke                                     Albin Alrik Alvi Andor Ansgar Arne Arnfinn Arni Aro Arvid Asger Asker Audun Auvo Balder Birger Bjarte Dagfinn Eigil Einar Eivind Elof Emund Erlend Erling Esben Folke Freystein Geir Greger Gregers Gudmund Gunvor Hakon Haldor Halsten Halvar Hemming Henrik Ingemar Ingo Ingvar Jarl Jens

Jerrik Joar Jokum Karsten Keld Kjartan Kjell Kolben Konsta Magnar Melker Mika Mio Morten Njord Ordin Orvar Orvo Øystein Ragnar Ravn Reidar Rein Runar Rune Seved Sigurd Sigvid Solen Stein Stig Sven Tage Taran Thorfinn Thorvald Toivo Tollak Torben Torun Tyke Ulf Valo Vebjørn Yngve

If you're wondering what the most popular names per country are, I have that information too! For the year 2012, these were the Top 10 names per gender per country:

Top 10 Girl Names in Scandinavia in 2012:

Denmark         Sofia Ida Freja Emma Isabella Sofie Maja Laura Clara Mathilde

Sweden           Alice Elsa Julia Ella Maja Ebba Emma Linnea Molly Alva

Finland   Ella Sofia Emma Aada Aino Venla Helmi Emilia Siiri Sara

Norway Nora Emma Sofie Linnea/Linea Sara Emilie Ingrid Thea Leah Sofia

Top 10 Boy Names in Scandinavia in 2012:

Denmark    William Lucas Victor Noah Oscar Liam Frederik Emil Oliver Magnus

Sweden William Oscar Lucas Hugo Elias Alexander Liam Charlie Oliver Filip

Finland     Onni Elias Eetu Leo Aleksi Niilo Veeti Oliver Joona Eino

Norway Lucas Emil Mathias Jonas Alexander William Oskar Magnus Markus Oliver

What do you think of Scandinavian names? Do you have a favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below!!

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[Note:] I am not Scandinavian and I've never been to that part of the world. If any of this information is incorrect or lacking, contact me so I can adjust it.

Magnus

Welcome to Scandinavian Week! You may have seen the polls that I made on the sidebar of the blog and maybe you even voted for your favorite Scandinavian names for each gender. After a tie-breaker, the winning male name was Magnus.

Magnus is a Late Latin name meaning "Great" but it is heavily used by Scandinavians, particularly those from Sweden, Norway and Denmark.  It became popular in those countries because of the 11th century King Magnus I of Norway.

It was said that King Magnus I may have been named after another ruler, Charlemagne, who was also known as Carolus Magnus, or Charles the Great.  Others who bore the name Magnus include a 7th century saint, 6 more kings of Norway, and 3 kings of Sweden.

In the middle ages, the name Magnus gained usage in Scotland and Ireland. Manus is an Irish variant of the name. There's also the Finnish variants Manu, Mauno and Maunu, and the Danish Mogens.

Interestingly, from Magnus sprang forth the Medieval English name Mack which then led to the name Maxwell, which is a Scottish place name then surname.

In the US, Magnus was used sporadically from 1890 until 1981 when it gained yearly regularity. However, it has always been rare. 2013 is the first year that the name has ever been in the Top 1000. With 206 births, Magnus ranked at #958.

In Iceland, Magnús (pronounced MAHG-noose) ranked at #7 for the year 2007. In recent years, Magnus has also ranked at #4 in Norway, #8 in Denmark, #180 in Scotland and #300 in British Columbia, Canada.

What do you think of the great Magnus as a baby name? It is a strong, bold choice that will stand out! Do you think it is too bold or would you use it? What's a good middle name?  Here are some middle name ideas and sibling name ideas;

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Astrid, Caroline, Elowen, Fiona, Freya, Ingrid, Liv, Maren, Onnika, Sorena, Thora
Brothers: Caspar, Erik, Felix, Henrik, Hugo, Lucius, Odin, Rex, Sebastian, Soren, Viggo

Middle Name Ideas:
Magnus Christopher
Magnus Gunnar
Magnus James
Magnus Thurston
Magnus Yorrick

As a Middle Name:
Axel Magnus
Dane Magnus
Henry Magnus
Levi Magnus
Samuel Magnus

Share your thoughts on the name in the comments below!