Behind the Name: Swede's Personal Name List

Viola

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak

Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)

Rating: 66% based on 22 votes

Means "violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke Orsino, she attempts to convince Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.

Njord

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Norse Mythology, Swedish (Rare), Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)

Rating: 43% based on 20 votes

From Old Norse Njǫrðr, derived from Proto-Germanic *Nerþuz. It might derive from the Indo-European root *hnerto- meaning "strong, vigorous". Njord was the Norse god associated with the sea, sailing, fishing and fertility. With his children Freyr and Freya he was a member of the Vanir gods.

Linn

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Swedish, Norwegian

Pronounced: LIN

Rating: 64% based on 21 votes

Short form of Linnéa and other names containing the same sound.

Hjalmar

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish

Pronounced: YAL-mar(Swedish)

Rating: 36% based on 21 votes

From the Old Norse name Hjálmarr meaning "helmeted warrior" from the element hjalmr "helmet" combined with herr "army, warrior".

Freya

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German

Pronounced: FRAY-ə(English) FRAY-a(German)

Rating: 48% based on 23 votes

From Old Norse Freyja meaning "lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother Freyr and father Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess Frigg.

This is not the usual spelling in any of the Scandinavian languages (in Sweden and Denmark it is Freja and in Norway it is Frøja) but it is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. In the 2000s it became popular in Britain.

Folke

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Swedish, Danish

Pronounced: FAWL-keh(Swedish)

Rating: 45% based on 21 votes

Short form of various Old Norse names that contain the element folk meaning "people", and thus a cognate of Fulk.

Axel

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English

Pronounced: A-ksehl(Swedish) A-ksəl(German) A-KSEHL(French) AK-səl(English)

Rating: 49% based on 24 votes

Medieval Danish form of Absalom.