Names tell a story. This becomes clear when you read “First Names in Sweden,” published Wednesday by the Institute of Language and Folklore. The new edition is an expanded and updated version of the institute’s previous name dictionary from 2004. The linguist Katharina Leibring wrote the new parts and is convinced that names are of fundamental importance for our culture.
– It’s a kind of label and a way of organizing the world, she says.
The institute’s name lexicon contains a brief history and statistics of all first names carried by at least 400 Swedes, as well as the names found in the almanac. In total there are 1,800 first names. The book also contains a historical overview. It turns out that naming trends often go hand in hand with major social changes. An example is the arrival of Christianity in Sweden in the Middle Ages.
– Then we get all the first names that many of us have today. Like your name, Johannes, and my own, Katharina. There was a major name change and many of the pre-Christian Nordic names fell into disuse.
However, one of our most common names today was unusual for religious reasons.
– Mary is exciting because she was generally not used in the Middle Ages because she was considered too holy. It was only after the Reformation that children were given the name Maria, and in the 17th century it spread very quickly, says Katharina Leibring.
Naming trends also say a lot about which foreign cultures have had the greatest influence on Swedes. In the 18th century the French name was popular and in the 19th century the English names – such as Jenny, Fanny, Charles and John – were popular.
Among the five hundred new names added since the last edition of the book, there are several that have long been common in other countries but are relatively new in Sweden. Like Aisha, which you can read is an Arabic name that means “living woman, woman who will live a long life.”
According to linguist Katharina Leibring, today’s choice of name also says a lot about our times. Until the 19th century, most Swedes were named after older relatives, so relatively few names prevailed. Today it’s different.
– The children must be unique. Parents are looking for more individual names or individual spellings. It has to do with the success of individualism in recent decades, says Katharina Leibring.
Facts.“First name in Sweden”
“First names in Sweden – short name dictionary” was published this week in an updated and expanded version by the Institute of Language and Folklore.
The book is an encyclopedia with a total of 1,800 first names with history, name meaning and statistics.
All first names like at least 400 Swedes Berry is included, as are all the names in the Swedish and Finnish-Swedish Almanac.
Among the added names The new edition features Meja, Aisha and Kilian, among others.
The book is available for purchase at The Institute of Languages and Folklore can be downloaded free of charge from their website.
