Viking names
What were the Vikings' names?
Nordic names are popular like never before, you see more and more new parents naming their children with names that relate to the Viking Age. This can be clearly seen on Statistics Denmark's website, where especially the 2 Nordic names such as Freja and Frey have increased enormously in recent years. The names both originate from Nordic mythology and are directly linked to fertility and the gods of the same Nordic name. One of the other Nordic names to be found at the top of the list is Viggo - which means warrior.
One must, however, be a little careful about naming one's children after our Nordic gods, e.g. Sif, Thor, Frej or Balder. In the Creation of Nordic mythology, the gods became angry if a farmer named his children after the sun and the moon, and punished the children so that in future they would steer the chariot with the sun and the moon over the sky, respectively. (Read the whole creation story here.) So as a precaution, call your child by a derived name of the Nordic gods.
THE NAMES OF THE VIKINGS WHERE
We know the names that certainly date from the Viking Age, among other things. from the runic inscriptions and foreign accounts from after the Viking Age, i.a. of Adam of Bremen and Saxo. Many well-known Nordic names are neither written down nor carved in stone, but have a distinctive character that can only originate from our ancestors here in the Nordic countries.
It is believed that the Vikings gave their children names to give them strength and protection. Strength could come with the naming after the god Thor, such as Thorsten or Thorkil. Animal names such as Orm and Ulf were not uncommon either. They relate to the gods' worst enemies - the Midgard Serpent and the Fenris Wolf. Animal names such as Bjørn, Thorsbjørn and Asbjørn were used to give the child strength like a bear, just as Arndis, derived from the word eagle, is also a strong animal. Many of the Nordic names are given a more meaning or a property. Frida means "Peace", Astrid means "Beautiful and Love", Åse means "Goddess". Slightly unlike Hilda was used, which means "Match Pleasure" and Borghild, meaning "Borg and Match".
The Nordic names and their influence on today's Denmark
To this day, many of our surnames date back to the Viking Age. Alle -sen, which means Son of or Daughter of, can be traced back to the Viking Age, where one already bore nicknames or family names. When Christianity began to gain ground in the Nordic countries, the Nordic names were changed and were now more inspired by Christianity. , such as Jacob, Hannah, etc.
Fortunately, the names of the Vikings did not go into oblivion. Here are two lists of girl and boy names, respectively, all dating from the Viking Age.
Are you looking for inspiration for your little new nugget or are you thinking of a name change - then choose a real Viking name.
LADIES FIRST – Viking girl names
Aldis, Alfdis - (female goddess) elf + spirits
Alfhild, Alvhild – elf + battle
Alfsol – elf + sun = alfesol
Alrun – noble runes/elevated runes
Alva – (feminine version of the boy name Alf) elf
Annbjørg, Arnbjørg – eagle + protector
Arndis – eagle + spirits
Asfrid – god + beautiful = divine
Ashild, Åshild – god + battle
Aslaug – god + devotion to = sanctified gods
Asbjørg – (birch of the ashes) protected by the gods
Astrid – (from the name of the goddess) loved by the gods
Aud – happiness/wealth
Berghild – mountain + battle
Birla – little bear
Bjørg – (female version of the boy name Bjørk) birch/help/protect
Bodil – recovery + battle
Borghild – castle + battle
Brynhild – battle armour
Dayfrid – beautiful day
Dagny – new day
Disa – goddess/sister/spirits
Edda – (name of Snorre's Nordic mythology) great-grandmother
Eldbjørg – protective fire
Embla – Ask and Embla: the first people in Nordic mythology, created by two trees
Erika – (from the boy's name Erik) eternal mighty ruler
Freydis – Freyr + goddess/sister
Frida – beautiful (can be added to for ex. Alfrida: beautiful elf)
Fylla – fertility goddess
Gerd/Gerda – (the God Frey's love))
Gislaug – ray/wand/watchman + devoted to
Gro, Groa - grow/growth
Gudrun – god/faithful friend + hidden knowledge
Gunhild – war + battle
Gunn, Gun – battle
Gunnlaug – battle + devoted to = devoted to battle.
Halldis, Haldis – home/Helle + spirits/goddess/sister = goddess of the home
Hege – (female version of the boy name Helge) – sacred
Herdis – army + spirits
Helga – the holy one
Helle – (derived from Helga) the sacred
Hildegunn, Hildegun – both mean battle
Hildur/Hilda – Hildur: (Valkyria name) battle, Hilda: latinisation of Hildur
Hjørdis – goddess of the sword + spirits
Inge – old Nordic male name, originally a god name after the unknown god Ing
Ingeborg – the god Ing (perhaps Frey) + protection/protects
Inghild, Ingvild, Yngvild – the god Ing + battle
Ingrid – the god Ing + beautiful
Ingunn, Ingun – the god Ing + loved = loved by Ing
Jofrid – beautiful horse
Leikny – leg + new/young
Liv/Lif – (the woman who survived Ragnarok with her husband Livtraser) life
Magnhild – strength + battle
Margunn, Margun – horse + battle/struggle = war horse
Målfrid – beautiful language/speech
Nanna – (Balder's wife) bold, brave
Ragnfrid – (later Randi) beloved of the gods
Ragnhild – ragn = gods, -hildr = battle
Røskva - (Thor's helper and Tjalfe's sister) the healthy, mature
Runa – runes, secret
Signe – the victorious
Signy – new victory
Sigrid – Sejr's beauty
Sigyn – (Loki's wife, Sejr's friend)
Siv, Sif – (Thor's wife) wife, bride
Snefrid – beautiful snow
Solbjørg – sun + house or yellow + protection = protector or birch
Solveig – sun/house + struggle/strength. "The sun's holy battle" (?)
Sunna – sun
Svanhild – swan + battle
Toka – (female form of Toke) meaning unknown
Thora – derived from Thor
Torbjørg – Thor + protector
Thordis – Thor + spirits
Thorgunn, Torgun – Thor + battle
Torun, Torun – loved by Thor
Tove – short form of Thor
Trude – strength
Turid – Thor + beautiful
Una – pleased, happy
Unni – loved + young/new
Vigdis – battle + goddess/sister
Åse – goddess
NOW THE VALIANT BOYS – Viking boy names
Agnar – maybe sword edge + warrior
Alf – elf
Arild/Arnold – eagle master
Arne/Arn – eagle
Arnstein – eagle + stone
Arve – (form of Arvid) eagle + forest
Arvid – eagle + forest
Asger – god's spear/Odin's spear
Ask – Ask and Embla: the first people in Nordic mythology, created by two trees
Aske – tree of ash
Aslak – god + battle
Asmund – god protector/protected by the gods
Birger – short form of the old Nordic word for mountain
Birk – (the Danish form of Bjørk) birch tree
The Birch tree is still called Bjørk in Norwegian.
Bjarke – bear
Bjarne – bear
Bjørk – birch
Åmund – (mixture of two Nordic names) respect/sword edge/mighty + protector
Bo, Bue – live/living
Brynjulf – breastplate + wolf
Børge – (old Danish "Byrghir”) mountain/guardian
Eik – oak tree
Eivind, Øjvind, Even – gift + winner
Ejnar – lone warrior, bold/daring
Erik, Eirik – alone/always + powerful ruler
Esben, Esbern, Espen, Esper – (variations of Asbjørn) god and bear
Eskild – god helmet/god kettle
Finn – Fins/Sami
Frode – smart/learned
Geir – spear
Gisle/Gisli – guard/staff
Gunnar/Gunner – battle
Hallgeir – house/home + spear = the one protecting his home with spears
Harald – (Nordic male name) army commander/battle – mighty
Helge – the holy one
Helje – (name for both boys and girls) holy
Hjalmar – helmet + warrior
Hjalte – sword handle
Holger – honourable giant
Ingolf – Ing (god) + Olf (wolf)
Ingvar, Ivar – (Ing was the god of fertility. He was perhaps actually Frey.) Ingvar: Ing's warrior
Karl – (free) man
Kjeld, Keld, Kell, Ketil, Kjetil – Kettle/helmet
Kåre – the curly-haired
Leif/lif – descendant, for ex. Frejlif/Thorleif = descendant of Frey/Thor
Olav, Oluf, Ole – descendant
Osvald – old Nordic as in: god + valdr: chief
Regnar, Ragnar, Regner – warrior of the gods
Reidar – warrior helmet
Roald – victorious ruler
Roar – (Danish legend king) widely famous warrior
Rolf – famous wolf
Rune – secret/secret wisdom
Siggejr/Siggeir – victory + spear
Sigmund – victory + protector
Sigurd/Sigvald – victory + guard.
Sten – stone
Stig, Stian – wanderer
Sune – son
Tage – persevering
Thorkil, Terkel – Thor's helmet
Thorvald – (old Nordic) Thor + ruler
Tjalfe – Thor's helper (meaning is uncertain)
Toke – common Nordic name, meaning unknown
Torben – short form of Thorbjørn
Tormod – Thor + brave
Torsten – Thor + stone = strong as Thor, hard as stone
Troels – (composed of Thorgisl) Thor's arrow shaft
Une, Uni – satisfied/happy
Vagn – wagon/craftsman
Vebjørn – sacrificial site/holy place + bear
Vidar – (Nordic god) "Lord of the wilderness”/”Warrior of the forest”
Viggo – warrior
Østen, Øystein, Eistein – lucky stone
Åge – maybe ancestor/great-grandfather
The two tables are taken from www.livtraser.dk, which, of course, calls into question of the credibility. However, all the names have distinctive characteristics – so they are from the north.
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