Swedish names that sound funny in English and Spanish

Have you heard other Swedish names that sound funny in your native language?
In this video we talk about common Swedish names that can make you laugh when you hear them for the first time. Names like Jerker and Fanny don't phase us at all here in Sweden, but for others who speak English and Spanish, these names might sound odd... including the name "Odd"!
Names like Marika and Vendela don't sound appropriate in Spanish, and names like Annika and Monika might sound sexual in Arabic.
And if you've ever seen the name Kerstin in English, we've got news for you: the pronunciation is a lot different than you might expect. In Swedish, we pronounce this name as "Shersh-tin." To learn more about how to pronounce the K sound in Swedish, check out our other video here: • How to pronounce the S...
Video edited by Meagan Nouis: bit.ly/YT_meagannouis
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[@FunSwedish]

What other Swedish names sound funny to you?

[@mohamedcabdirahmaan4864]

Hi my dear teacher All ways you but your channel video about knew vocabulary I need if you can’t But your channel more conversation of deayle live vocabulary Tack

[@user-fe7xt5vu5o]

Örjan Lax

[@marioh6133]

Fanny is a spanish name too

[@alicial4857]

What I learned from this video: - Swedish pronunciation follows different rules than American English. - Swedes can make the most offensive-sounding names sound super cool.

[@FunSwedish]

Great takeaways 😂

[@herkcollins4263]

My boyfriend is Swedish, his name is Per. My family thought it was a strange name because it sort of means For in America and one will often see sales with the limit of so many Per customer, or so many For each customer. I however love his name because I dislike average ordinary names so common in America and I love Sweden, so everything Swedish is awesome to me.

[@FunSwedish]

😂😂 Per is a funny one as well. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@KKLLAARRAA111]

"Ola" in Polish is a diminutive for one of the most popular female names: "Aleksandra". I was a bit surprised at the beginning when encountering dignified gentlemen calling themselves "Ola" :D

[@tomeofslyev]

The "woohoo" at the bit about Fanny sent me into giggles

[@hansmeissner734]

I Tyskland betyder Anders - contrary, different, unlike, other than Bosse - Bosses Lila - pink Tage - days Tore - Gates (big doors); goals (sport) Wolke - cloud Many others as e.g. Kirsten, Ole, Per, Björn, Britta, Astrid, Jan, Karin are normal names in Germany, since Scandinavia and Northern Germany have much in common historically.

[@dragonemperor007]

Die meisten Jungs sind gleich, aber er ist Anders

[@maimunrahman9635]

Few interesting facts regarding names. Boo is a word of endearment when referring to your other half in US culture so I guess it could be looked upon as a rather nice name. Certain English speaking countries can also have names for girls which are pronounced very differently to how they they're apparently spelt. Examples of this are Irish girl's names such as Niamh ("Neev") and Grainne ("Graw-nya").

[@origamichik3n]

Not name. But there was an American guy in our Swedish class. He got visibly uncomfortable, when we were learning borjar/slutar.

[@FunSwedish]

😂😂😂

[@minirop]

Some US news outlet were angry when there was on insult at the end of Frozen in Sweden. you know.. "slut".

[@dfdy_6882]

I was super confused by the name Love when I first came to Sweden.

[@FunSwedish]

OH! That is a good one as well 😁😂

[@ilEagle3696]

In greek we have the name Αγάπη which means love lol. We also have Ελπίδα which means hope

[@theze4988]

We also have the swedish name: Gun-Britt ;-D

[@Wanderlust.428]

My aunt is Colombian. She's in her 80's and her name is Fanny, too🤭

[@FunSwedish]

😅😅

[@tharukik]

I enjoyed this lesson a lot

[@FunSwedish]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@yasladakaya]

My old friend's name is Malin and I loved her name!

[@FunSwedish]

👏

[@TSGill-td7xw]

I noticed another Dutch word Lekker that is similar to Swedish. In Indonesia bensin is used for petrol. I don't live in Sweden but your excellent teaching skills and charming personality would be the reason to learn Swedish. It is believed that learning a new language is exercise for the brain.

[@PatricioB.]

Jajaja. Muy bueno!!

[@FunSwedish]

Me alegro que te guste 😊

[@yasladakaya]

My yoga teacher's husbands name is Preben. I find that one interesting!

[@stormmaster108]

There are some Russian names that sound weird in Swedish or English. Лида "Lida" - a short version of "Lidiya", but "lida" means "to suffer" in Swedish. Илла "Illa" - one of the words meaning "bad/unwell" in Swedish. Семён, the letter Ё is unfortunately removed from official use, so the name is spelled Семен "Semen", even though it's actually pronounced more like "Semön" with stress on "Ö".

[@CouchPolyglot]

In Barcelona the name "Laia" is quite common, for instance, min kusin heter Laia, and it sounds like "lier" 😮

[@FunSwedish]

🙈🙈

[@efutabyiringiro8460]

Thanks for your mev

[@FunSwedish]

😊

[@edelgado94]

I moved to Sweden a few months back, to Sollentuna. As anyone from the Stockholm area knows, there's a pendeltåg bound for Tumba... The first time I saw it was a bit shocking! (as Tumba means Tomb in Spanish :P)

[@m.u.5440]

Jag gillar namnet "Gunnel". :)

[@ralfschramm4067]

Thank you so much! What interesting! I'm still looking for a spanish teacher. How can we get together? Best greetings, Ralf

[@2gaminglovergirl]

I found it really surprising when you said that Monika is a common Swedish name it’s a very common Indian name as well

[@FunSwedish]

Interesting! I guess it is very international then

[@juliusceazerjulius6833]

Berg 🏔 mountain 😂😂

[@FunSwedish]

🙈

[@luismanueldiazbaron9588]

That too :)

[@mareltheo4246]

The way Kerstin is pronounced in Swedish sounds like the way we say "shit her" in Greek

[@nigelmurray9000]

I like Fanny! OMG that's something you should never say in an English speaking country! :)))

[@FunSwedish]

😅😅

[@EricaGamet]

Well in American English it's the cutesy or childish name for bum/rear end/behind... it's also a name here in the U.S., but an old-fashioned one. Fanny Brice comes to mind... and also it used to be a woman's name in England.

[@fashionstylerrique7112]

Fleura Leon

[@Entjthoughts]

She posted this on my birthday :D! Anyway ARE YOU A SWEDISH TEACHER or a SPANISH TEACHER?????? (sorry for the caps)

[@FunSwedish]

Both! 😊

[@randywilson944]

Fanny och Alexander 🎥

[@jesusmariagarciaarejula9032]

Kerstin is also a German female name and it is pronounced just the way you dismissed :D

[@FunSwedish]

😊. There are some other words that look exaclty the same as in German, like Berg. That have a completely different pronunciation in Swedish 😊. And since German is more popular, it messes up with peoples Swedish 😂

[@estrepitolaovejanegra]

Is Odd just a man's name or can it also be a woman's? 'Cause there's a women's clothing store called "Odd Molly" ¿Odd es solo nombre de Hombre o también puede ser de mujer? Porque hay una tienda de ropa llamada de mujer "Odd Molly"

[@thespanishmentor5262]

We need a lesson about covid and its vocabulary and phrase , please maestra .

[@FunSwedish]

Sound like a great idea! We probably should have done that video a year ago 😅

[@monikaczarnecka1201]

Åsa sounds like Polish "osa" what means "wasp" 🐝

[@FunSwedish]

Oh wow! Nice one! More bad news for Åsa 😅

[@spelaavbelj1985]

Its the same meaning in slovenian :)

[@dramendiana373]

It's funny this kind of confusion between languages 🙊 I think the name Åsa sounds so cute, it was my favorite of the ones you mentioned. One swedish word that sounds funny to me (is not a name, of course) is "ingen" because in Mexico it's kinda similar to part of a local phrase it's used to insult... You just need to add: "su madre" at the end... 🤣🤣🤣😅 Sorry, it's a really rude phrase, but I can't help it, my mind just relate those words, so mexican of me. 🙊 There's a smoothest and shorter version of that phrase that is used to express you are going to do something despite the outcome, "inge-su" maybe that's why my mind relate them, and makes me laugh as a teenager when I think about it.

[@luismanueldiazbaron9588]

Actually I think they have the word "inga" which from my Caribbean perspective is more "suitable" then "ingen" in order to build that phrase you mentioned above :)

[@dramendiana373]

@@luismanueldiazbaron9588 LOL, yes!!! Way more accurate, for sure!!!! 😎 Thanks!

[@avocadocommander]

I speak English, Spanish and Lebanese Arabic. Annika sound like something inappropriate in Arabic but monika is completely fine

[@FunSwedish]

Good to know! 😊 THank you!

[@ilEagle3696]

the name Ella, in greek, sounds like the imparative of the verb "come" (Έλα)

[@MarioniLammie]

The name 'Anders' means 'different' in Dutch. That's kind of confusing ;)

[@FunSwedish]

Oh wow! Didnt know that 😁

[@linnbe5704]

Same in german! :D

[@minirop]

I was indeed confused when I learnt the original of the name of "MySQL" (and since everybody pronounced that the English way) As a funny name, "Ville" is the French word for "town/stad", pronounced the same as "(jag) vill". edit: let's not forget hASSe.

[@FunSwedish]

Haha, true! Thanks for adding more funny names :)

[@luismanueldiazbaron9588]

I was TODAY years old when I discovered, that My is after the name of MySql founder's daughter. Thanks for pointing that out

[@Tapuakh]

You have 3 names?

[@estrepitolaovejanegra]

In Sweden it is customary to put up to 3 names

[@maimunrahman9635]

Jag gillar Fanny 😅🤣😅😭

[@FunSwedish]

😅😁😂

[@karenfritz6343]

Bjorn!

[@FunSwedish]

🐻🐻

[@fashionstylerrique7112]

Rick or kayla

[@TheStarscream80]

Not a name, but tickle tickle is kill kill in Swedish...

[@eliotsalgado9908]

Marik@ yeah It can be used as an insult for gay people, but it can also be used in a friendly way. You can call a friend marik@ and it’s like you’re basically saying “friend”

[@FunSwedish]

Es verdad 😊. Pero bueno, el significado original de la palabra no es el mas.... apropiado 😁

[@eliotsalgado9908]

@@FunSwedish kan du spanska?

[@simonerinaldi2781]

In italian Bo can be confused with "Boh", a colloquial word meaning "jag förstar inte" or "jag vet inte"

[@Sayi_]

sounds like the french onomatopoeias "rooooh" or "bah"/"ben"…… also maybe you just can't type the å, but you'd say förstår and not förstar ;)

[@mcgibs]

Not a name, but köttbulle is pretty unfortunate to an English speaker. Especially if it's with brunsås.

[@FunSwedish]

🙈🙈

[@vass6888]

According to birthday.se, there are two people in Sweden named Dick Jerker. And also 32 people with the last name God.

[@FunSwedish]

😂 those parents have some explaining to do!