In Sweden, parents have to register baby names with Skatteverket, the Swedish IRS, before their child is 3 months old. Failure to do so can result in a fine.
You can try to give your baby any name you like, but Skatteverket decides if it’s acceptable or not, and if they don’t like it, you’ll have to come up with another name. If you feel strongly about a name that got shot down, you can have your case tried by the local court.
Below are some of the funnier first names people have named (and tried to name) their children. Where needed, the meaning of the word in English is in parenthesis after each name.
Madonna has been quoted saying “I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.” I wonder what some of these kids end up doing with their lives… 🙂
Baby names that were approved:
Anka (duck)
Baby
Bajen (the nickname of a Stockholm soccer team)
Bajramsa (“poopie rhyme”)
Barbi
Bob-Marley
Deep
Delfina (dolphin)
Docka (doll)
Du (you)
Eminem
Fin (pretty)
Frodo
Gandalf
Glad (happy)
Glädje (joy)
Grill
Hallón (raspberry)
Händel (Handel, as in George Frideric Handel)
Hitler
Hjort (deer)
Hockey
Jag (I)
Jazz
Kacka (poop)
Katt (cat)
Kisse (pussycat)
Lego
Liljan (the lily)
Lorry
Månstråle (moonbeam)
Metallica
Minus
Modesty
Mygg (mosquito)
Pappa (daddy)
Passionfruit
Peace
Pixie
Pontiac
Sailor
Sladden (the runt or the cable)
Snöfrid (snow peace, also a musical piece by Sibelius)
Snow
Spider
Sputnik
Stjärna (star)
Sugar
Svinto (brand name of steel wool)
Tennis
Texas
Trix
Twilight
Vem (who)
Zappa
Älva (elf or sprite)
Baby names that did not meet with Skatteverket’s approval:
Andersson
Apan (the monkey)
Autumn
Boris (for a girl)
Cristiania
Doktor (doctor)
Dotcom
Fån (fool)
Fan (the devil or [sports] fan as in english)
Farbror Sid (uncle Sid)
Filip (for a girl)
Filur (rascal)
FloweryFlower
Freedom
Göken (the cuckoo, also slang for a shot of alcohol)
Gudh (God, creatively spelled)
Gummi (rubber)
GumShoe
Hosianna
IKEA
Inga-Inga
Kaninen (the rabbit)
Lakrits (licorice)
Likagod (just as good)
Lillprins (little prince)
Någon (someone)
Rackartuss (furry rascal)
Skrot (garbage)
Snövit (Snow white)
Svensson
Tequila
Tomhet (emptiness)
Vinnaren (the winner)
X
I would like to point out here that Swedes are not the only ones who do this sort of thing to their children. Remember that girl who was all over the news a few years ago? “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii”?
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