Swedish Names

Streamlined spelling found all across Europe. The Spanish Filipo has extra zip.

If you want a pan-Scandinavian name with energy and style that could have been a winner, if not for the sound-alike water filtration company Brita.

This softer version of Adolf is sadly still off-limits due to the connotations with Hitler.

So uncool it's almost cool, Bertie makes for a boyish nickname for Alberta, Roberta, Bertille, Albertine... or just use it on its own, à la Billie or Frankie.

Moa is among the Top 100 Swedish baby names but virtually unknown in the US. Might Moa be a substitute for Mia or Maya? An intriguing idea. There is a Swedish author named Moa Martinson.

Would fit right in with the trendy Colins and Owens.

Pelle is one of several possible Peter-related Scandinavian choices. In Swedish or Norwegian, the name Pelle rhymes roughly with Ella.

Majken, which is related to Maiken and Maike, is a popular name in Sweden whose variations are used throughout Scandinavia as cooler forms of Mary. Majken is virtually unknown in the U.S. and probably not bound for emigration.

Like Stian, a more manageable short form of the unwieldy Srigandr, but with a less euphonic sound. Stig Larsson is a successful Swedish novelist, not to be confused with the even more successful late Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson (born Karl Stig-Erland LArsson), author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</>..

Paulo suffers in comparison to the richer and more authentic-sounding Paolo.

Well used in northern Europe, almost unknown here.

Concise and clipped European version of the earnest Ernest.

Once a short form of names containing this syllable, it is now used on its own, though we'd prefer Sven.

Though you might have been a fan of tennis star Chris Evert, stick with EVERETT, which everyone will think you're saying anyway.

We once dismissed Bird as "too flighty", but with the rise of avian names from Lark to Robin to, well, Birdie, we don't see why Bird can't be a fine choice, especially as a middle name.