Viking Given Names

Here you will find a list of 42 genuine given Viking given names. All of them are still in use today!

How to pronounce them

The names are still in use today, but are pronounced differently throughout Scandinavia. Click a name below and find out how the names are pronounced in the Oslo area, Norway. On the right an approximate  number of people bearing the name (or a close variation of it) in the Scandinavian countries today.

Girls’ names

Meaning

 In Scandinavia today
NO SE DK
Astrid ás – the word for God in old Norse / frid – beautiful (woman) 22000 43000 6900
Brynhild bryn – chain mail/ hild – fighter 900 100 50
Freydis freyr – fertility goddess / dis – low rank goddess 1700 30 15
Gudrun gud – god / run – secret knowledge 6650 19500 7650
Gunnhild gunnr – fight / hild – fight 1300 75000 2500
Gunnvor gunnr – fight / vor – defend 8000 25000 510
Hilde hild – fight 18400 500 170
Ingrid ing – viking god / frid – beautiful (woman) 25600 131400 12200
Ragnhild regin – council / hild – fight 17000 11600 1700
Ranveig rann – house / veig – unknown, perhaps víg: fight 1700 50 10
Sigrid sigr – victory / frid – beautiful (woman) 8000 15000 3550
Sigrunn sigr – victory / secret knowledge 4000 220 185
Siv sif – a relation, an in-law 7500 6200 950
Solveig sól – house, hall / veig – unknown, perhaps víg: fight 22500 21400 6000
Svanhild svan – swan / hild – fight 3100 160 30
Torhild Tor – the mighty Thor / hild – fight 9200 250 50
Torunn Tor – the mighty Thor / unn – love 5300 400 55
Turid Tor – the mighty Thor / frid – beautiful (woman) 12700 400 200
Vigdis vig – fight / dis – low rank goddess 6500 145 65
Yngvild yng – viking god / hild – fight 6000 40 30

 

The 10 most used girls’ names in Norway today (From Statistics Norway)
The 100 most used girls’ names in Sweden (From Statistiska centralbyrån, Sweden)
The mosed used names in Denmark 2001 (From Danmarks statistik)

 

Boys’ names

Meaning

 In Scandinavia today
NO SE DK
Arne orn – eagle 32660 79830 18610
Bjørn bjørn – bear 41900 60650 5360
Eirik ei – the unique one / rik – prince 30630 315575 40210
Geir geirr – javlin 23000 275 80
Gisle gísl – hostage, the handle of a javlin 1275 45 45
Gunnar gunnr – fight / ar – worrier 17990 134950 7490
Harald har – army / vald – prince 18180 17565 2270
Håkon hár – a prominent person / konr – family 13500 210 210
Inge The viking god Yngve 5500 21970 20
Ivar ýr – a coniferous tree / ar – worrier 11560 22050 640
Knut knutr – a knot 29520 19525 24670
Leif leif – property, inheritance 17370 70720 20140
Magnus magnus – mighty, big 11190 72370 6550
Olav from *Anu-laibaR. anu – ancestor / laibaR – inheritance 60920 59275 29070
Rolf from Hródolf. rod – honour / ulfr – wolf 17750 63700 2210
Sigurd sigr – victory / vard – guardian 6520 7970 1240
Snorre snurre – the unruly one 1360 40 100
Steinar steinn – stone / ar – worrier 12410 250 50
Torstein Tor – the mighty Thor / steinn – stone 4810 90 99
Trygve tryggr – the trustworthy one 7280 1240 75
Ulf ulfr – wolf 2601 66020 770
Valdemar valr – might / mar – famous 200 18500 1320
Vidar The viking god Vidar 9810 1820 50
Yngve The viking god Yngve 2725 20075 65

 

The 10 most used boys’ names in Norway today (From Statistics Norway)
The 100 most used boys’ names in Sweden (From Statistiska centralbyrån, Sweden)
The mosed used names in Denmark 2001 (From Danmarks statistik)
Last updated: 25th June, 2015, 7:53 PM