Scandinavian

  1. Aislyn
    • Arlen
      • Origin:

        English surname
      • Meaning:

        "hare land"
      • Description:

        Arlen is a surname long used as a first name: It ranked on the US Top 1000 from the late 1920s until the late 1960s. Originally, Arlen was a variation of Harlan which came from Harland, a place-name which means "hare land" – a place with lots of rabbits.
    • Aubrie
      • Origin:

        Spelling variation of Aubrey
      • Meaning:

        "elf ruler"
      • Description:

        An alternative to the highly popular Aubrey. It entered the US Top 1000 back in 2001, peaked in 2012 when it neared the Top 300, then dropped out of the charts in 2023. Aubree remains the more popular alternative.
    • Conner
      • Origin:

        Spelling variation of Connor.
      • Description:

        This variation of Connor was practically unused before the 1990s.
    • Cullen
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "holly tree"
      • Description:

        Cullen is an appealing Irish surname name that upped its cool factor considerably when it became the Twilight family name of Edward et al. It's considerably less popular than it was at its peak in 2010, but is still widely used.
    • Elke
      • Origin:

        Dutch, German, and Frisian, diminutive of Adelheid
      • Meaning:

        "noble"
      • Description:

        Though she has long stood on her own, Elke has many longer cross-cultural connections, to the Dutch/German/Scandinavian Adelheid and Alice and the English Adelaide, as a feminine version of Elkanah and as a Yiddish form of Eleanor.
    • Elsa
      • Origin:

        German diminutive of Elisabeth
      • Meaning:

        "pledged to God"
      • Description:

        Lost in limbo for decades and decades, Elsa now stands a good chance of following along in the progression from Emma to Ella to Etta, thanks to the ice queen heroine who "Let It Go" in the wildly popular Disney movie Frozen. The name shot all the up to Number 286 (its highest ranking since the 1890s) in the year after the release of the movie, though it's now dropped back down the list in the US.
    • Emmett
      • Origin:

        English masculine variation of Emma, German
      • Meaning:

        "universal"
      • Description:

        Emmett, honest and sincere, laid-back and creative, is on the rise as a male cognate of the megapopular Emma and Emily, not to mention being a character in the popular Twilight series.
    • Fern
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "plant name"
      • Description:

        Of all the botanicals, Fern has been one of the slowest to move back from the front parlor into the nursery, despite the appealing girl character in the children's classic Charlotte's Web. Fern was most popular from the turn of the last century through the 1940s, reaching a high of #152 in 1916. We can certainly see her rejoining the long list of popular greenery names.
    • Finn
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "fair or white"
      • Description:

        Finn is a name with enormous energy and charm, that of the greatest hero of Irish mythology, Finn MacCool (aka Fionn mac Cuumhaill), an intrepid warrior with mystical supernatural powers, noted as well for his wisdom and generosity.
    • Fiona
      • Origin:

        Scottish
      • Meaning:

        "white, fair"
      • Description:

        Fiona entered the American consciousness with the opening of the 1954 Broadway musical Brigadoon, but didn't come onto the U.S. popularity list until 1990.
    • Flynn
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "descendant of the red-haired one"
      • Description:

        Flynn, a charming Irish surname, is still used only quietly, despite its easygoing, casual cowboy charm, unlike Finn which is a star of this genre. Flynn was the choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr for their baby boy, and is also the middle name -- used as his first -- of a son of Miranda's fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson, of Gary Oldman's son Gulliver and Marley Shelton's daughter West.
    • Gannon
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "fair-skinned, fair-haired"
      • Description:

        The name of a historic Irish leader, Gannon has a solid, yet spirited feel. It was one of the fastest-rising names of 2014, but that trend didn't continue. One pop culture influence was the name of Teen Mom 3 son Gannon Dewayne McKee.
    • Isla
      • Origin:

        Scottish place-name or Spanish
      • Meaning:

        "island"
      • Description:

        Isla is a hit name throughout the English-speaking world but hasn't found the same popularity in other western countries, perhaps because its spelling and pronunciation don't make sense for those whose native language is not English. Think island without the final two letters.
    • Johanna
      • Origin:

        Hebrew
      • Meaning:

        "God is gracious"
      • Description:

        Johanna is the version of this name used in Holland, Germany, and Scandinavia. The extra h makes Johanna a slightly more dignified version of Joanna.
    • Keiran
      • Origin:

        Spelling variation of Kieran
      • Meaning:

        "little dark one"
      • Description:

        While Kieran is the class and most-used male form of this name, some people spell it Keiran in keeping with the female Keira, the version popularized by the gorgeous Ms. Knightley.
    • Lachlan
      • Origin:

        Scottish
      • Meaning:

        "from the fjord-land"
      • Description:

        Lachlan is as Scottish as haggis and tartan plaid kilts—a favorite used throughout England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand—and just beginning to be noticed in the US: it reached the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013. An ancient name, Lachlan was originally used to describe the Viking invaders of Scotland, those from the land of the lochs.
    • Lena
      • Origin:

        English, Scottish, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian, diminutive of various names ending in -lena
      • Description:

        This pet form of Helena and other ena-ending names, long used as an independent name, is attracting notice again as an option both multicultural and simple. Lena was a Top 100 name from 1880 to 1920.
    • Leopold
      • Origin:

        German
      • Meaning:

        "brave people"
      • Description:

        This aristocratic, somewhat formal Germanic route to the popular Leo is a royal name: Queen Victoria used it to honor a favorite uncle, King Leopold of Belgium. Though Leopold sounds as if it might be a leonine name, it's not really a relative of such choices as Leon, and Leonard.
    • Liesel
      • Origin:

        German diminutive of Elizabeth
      • Meaning:

        "pledged to God"
      • Description:

        Sweet but sleek, and distinctive, Liesel is an old German nickname-name for Elisabeth. It might have once seemed inextricably tied to to its country of origin, but now, like Elsa, Enzo, Saoirse, Freya, Soren, and Heidi, it leans more towards being international and European chic.