“Swedish names are boring. I mean, they’re all so straightforward and simple. If you ever want to know what it’s like to have a Swedish name, just think of the most generic Americanized name possible.”
-Buzzfeed article “14 Ways Having A Swedish Name Can Suck The Life Out Of You”
The following is an excerpt from Buzzfeed writer Emma Dibdin’s article: 14 ways having a Swedish name can suck the life out of you – this will show how naming children with similar sounding names in Sweden has affected many people’s lives over time. It’ll also highlight some reasons why these kinds of monotonous family surnames are not necessarily as bad as they may seem at
14 Ways Swedish Names can Suck the Life Out of You
In Sweden, it’s common for people to have three names. The first name is their given or Christian name, the middle name is a patronymic reflecting both parents’ surnames and finally there’s an efternamn (or surname) which also reflects both parents’ surnames but in reverse order. This naming system may seem complicated at first glance, but once you get your head around it then you’ll realise that this “complex” nomenclature actually has some pretty interesting benefits! Here are 14 ways that having a traditional Swedish Name can help improve your life:
The number of letters in one’s full legal name varies depending on the efternamn (or surname) that is chosen. The more letters, the less likely it will be for someone to have your exact name and this can help with privacy or safety concerns.
The Swedish naming system helps you avoid giving a child a common first name like John which might cause confusion in schools, daycare centres etc. In Sweden, everyone has their own unique first initial so no two children are ever sharing one! This means no accidental swaps of notes or lunches between classmate’s desks either!
– Being able to choose an individualistic last name also means being able to go against traditional family expectations too as there are fewer restrictions on what surnames people can choose from when they come of age and are legally allowed to change their name.
– With more letters, the less likely it will be for someone to have your exact name and this can help with privacy or safety concerns. If you are able to legally choose a different last name from your first one then even if people know how to spell it they won’t necessarily be able to find out who you are!
In addition, there is no need for complex naming conventions like middle names as everyone has two given names in Swedish – one of which is always an individual’s mother’s maiden surname but can still differ across families and both may be either male or female depending on the person’s gender identity. This means that just by looking at someone we cannot yet tell what sex they identify as and therefore they cannot be easily identified.
There are also some disadvantages to having a longer name, such as the need for more letters on many forms and in order both names must always be written out when filling out any kind of document – which can lead to spelling mistakes or delays if someone else is writing your information down for you. The extra characters required may not fit into spaces where it would otherwise have been possible without them and there might even be restrictions imposed by software that don’t allow usernames with too many characters!
With 14 ways Swedish Names can suck the life out of us I think we should start exploring other naming possibilities in Sweden..don’t you?
I hope my blog post has given you some
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read more..
“When you have a one word name.” (paragraph)
– “Long and overly complicated names.” (paragraph)
– “Names that rhyme with other common words or phrases. Like Elsa, Anna, Hansa & Annisa.” (paragraph)
– “Ending in ‘son.’ Like Lars son Anderson. That’s just too much of your father to carry around for the rest of your life!” (paragraph) ..more content here..
Conclusion: In all seriousness this is not an exhaustive list of why Swedish names are not ideal for naming children in English speaking countries – but it should give you some things to think about before naming your child something like Kajsa.
“How do you feel about Swedish names?” (paragraph)
– “Do any of these reasons resonate with you? Have you had any other experiences recognizing the downsides to a Swedish name or naming system?” (paragraph)
– “What are some good alternatives that would work better in an English speaking country? What’s your experience been like growing up with a Finnish, German, Scottish etc., name in America for instance?” (section) ..more content here..
Ending: The more I think about it – the less appealing they seem! Is there anything wrong with having an American or Irish sounding name if you happen to be born on either side of the Atlantic Ocean? Our ancestors left their homes to find new opportunities in America, so why should we be bound by their old traditions?
The final paragraph is an ending sentence. The content for this blog post ends here.
“So happy birthday Alice!” (paragraph)
– “What a perfect name.” (section) ..more content..end of long form content
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– What are some good alternatives that would work better in an English speaking country? Sometimes people will use double names or combine it with something else like Mary Jane Smith and become MJ Smith. I personally prefer using nicknames as first names because they’re more memorable and less stuffy than other options but each person has their own preferences.
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– What are some good alternatives that would work better in an English speaking country? Sometimes people will use double names or combine it with something else like Mary Jane Smith and become MJ Smith. I personally prefer using nicknames as first names because they’re more memorable and less stuffy than other options but each person has their own preferences.
– When you think of a Swedish name, what sort of associations might come to mind? Maybe things like tradition, beauty, elegance.. what about dullness and unhappiness though? Well this post is for all those Swedes who want to change up their birth certificate! Here’s 14 reasons why Swedish names might be making you feel depressed and uninspired.
– One thing about Swedish names is that they’re quite long, often consisting of three words or more. A lot of times people are never fully called by their actual name because it’s too difficult to say on the phone but just use “the guy from fifth grade” instead.
– There was a tweet going around recently (seen below) with an analysis done by someone who has been living in Sweden for ten years saying why Swedish names suck:
Account Name: @FeministaJones
Tweet Content: I really don’t understand how 60% of this country can have Scandinavian surnames when 40% of them aren’t white lmao #SwedenProblems – One of the other reasons Swedish names suck is that they are really hard to pronounce because there are so many letters in them. A lot of times people’s last name with have a letter combination like “ng” or “aa.” – The culture has been described as being introverted and shy, which can make it difficult for someone who doesn’t speak their language fluently to get through social situations without feeling anxious about making mistakes. For example, if you’re at an event where everyone else knows each other but you don’t know anyone, all those long Scandinavian surnames might be daunting enough that you opt out from trying to talk at all–even if your goal was just saying hi! – Another reason
