Tuesday, September 17, 2013

We need to talk about Kewin – Swedish name trends


So there is this strange naming trend in Sweden going on that is not so far off from some American style baby naming trends --- Not the Aiden, Caden, Jaden’s because, they are obviously so 2010, or even the Wyatt, Bennett, Lincolns of late, but the W kids.

In Sweden W and V are interchangeable and they even do not get separate sections in the phone book. So it makes sense that people would try to give their kids a uneeek name like Kewin.

But it does not stop there, some names I have seen this year include:

Wiktor
Oliwer

And the all American

Wincent – because how you go wrong naming your child something with Win in it.

But Kewin just makes me giggle. And I just see their future blonde Swedish rap name K-win  in the future.

I am not sure if these names are traditional, are inspired by Hemmakwell ads, or just a way to have your Swedish kids stand out in a crowd.

While the W names seem to be mainly male, I have seen a few people suggest Towa, in stead of Tova. But I have not seen any Nowa instead of Nova. Maybe that will be the wave of the future? 

7 comments:

  1. I've also seen it written as Cevin. I'm not entirely sure if they thought "c" and "k" were interchangeable in English much as "v" and "w" are in Swedish. I might be wrong, but isn't Kevin considered something of a trailer trash name in Sweden? I know there are always jokes about it on Flashback, especially when they let rip on tv shows like Lyxfällan. A boy named Kevin or Liam is one of the "Lyxfällan Bingo" certainties.

    Wictor just makes me laugh - I always pronounce it with the English "w" in a quasi-Russian voice a bit like Natasha in Rocky and Bullwinkle. My Swede just sadly shakes his head, though he did laugh at my initial struggle with names like Ewa and Siw.

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    1. Ooh, how could I forget Ewa? Good point on Kevin, I thought it was just Kewin with the w that fell into the WT category, but could be the whole thing? I should read Flashback more often :)

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  2. I have been a frequent reader of this blog for a couple years, and let me just say I'm very happy to see that posts are more frequent. I was a little afraid this summer that you were letting this blog slide. :(
    Know that you have at least one devoted reader.

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    1. Thanks, I am still here, just have my hands full at moment. Trying to keep up with the blog, but took a very 'Swedish' summer and tried to stay a bit more 'offline'

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  3. Yes, Kevin (as most english/american names) is considered trashy here in Sweden. But Viktor and Oliver are considered perfectly normal swedish names, although alternative "elaborate" spellings can turn almost any name inte a WT one.

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  4. I dont think that Wiktor and Wiktoria is part of any new trend. My great grandmother was born in the late 1870's and she was named Wiktoria and I was named after her in the 1960's.

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  5. There are other languages than English. In German, W is pronounced like V in English and V is pronounced like F. For example, Volkswagen is pronounced "folkswagen".

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