I have written before about peculiar baby names people have chosen (or tried to choose) for their children in Sweden. Today, the post is about adults changing last names, which I think is even funnier because, unlike with the children, you don’t have to feel bad for these people since they made the choice for themselves.
Swedes apparently hold the world record in number of name changes per year. Last year, almost 8,000 people applied for a new last name (in a country of roughly 9 million, that’s quite a few). I guess if everyone else is named Karlsson and Svensson too, you have to be a bit creative to stand out. Not all are weird; some people switch to their Grandmother’s maiden name, for example, or go back to their maiden name.
Approved Name Changes
Here are some interesting new last names that were approved:
Dockhjärta (Doll’s heart)
Lejonsson (Lionson)
Ladublå (Barn blue)
Tamfalk (Tame falcon)
Comeback
Skywolf
Flowerman
It’s also getting more and more popular for newlyweds to take the bride’s last name (just look at Prince Daniel) or a completely new last name instead of going with the old mainstream solution of using the man’s name. My cousin and her husband did just that – they now have the same last name as her maternal grandparents.
Some people also choose to add names to their name. Here are a few odd ones that were approved:
James Bond
added by Gunnar Schäfer, which is already kind of funny because Schäfer means German Shepherd Dog in Swedish… this man’s name is now officially Gunnar James Bond Schäfer…!
Cyklist (bicyclist). Someone applied to change their last name to Cyklist.
Fjäril and Krigare (butterfly and warrior). Added by a young man to his original name Max Viking Dlouhy.
Denied Name Changes
And last but not least, a couple of name change requests that were denied:
Brunstgnägg (Time of the rut whinny)
Hela Härligheten (the whole shebang)
Hello,
I don’t know about the “and”, in Max’s name change, but my great-great-great-great-great-grands were of the name Fjäril. Imagine my American surprise when I looked up the surname and found all these photos of butterflies! And your post. Thank you for giving recognition to old and new Swedish family names; I had no idea!
That’s really cool, I’ve never heard Fjäril as a last name before!