Norwegian Names
Norwegian names manage to sound both ancient and modern at once. Many come straight from Old Norse — Ingrid, Sigurd, Solveig, Tor — while others arrived with Christianity and were trimmed into short Scandinavian forms like Jens, Kari and Nils. Today Norway also loves light, international picks such as Nora, Emma, Jakob and Noah.
This guide gathers 100+ of our favorite Norwegian names with their meanings, grouped by style, plus pronunciation tips for letters like ø, å and j. For longer lists, head to our Norwegian girl names and Norwegian boy names, or see how family names grew out of farms in our Norwegian last names. If you love the older layer, our Viking names go further back still.
Norwegian Names: browse all lists
Popular Norwegian boy names
Short, strong and easy to spell, these are the boy names you’ll hear on Norwegian playgrounds and in older generations alike. Many more are in our Norwegian boy names list.
| Name | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Jakob | “Supplanter” | Hebrew, via the Bible |
| Emil | “Rival” or “eager” | Latin Aemilius |
| Filip | “Lover of horses” | Greek Philippos |
| Lukas | “From Lucania” | Latin/Greek |
| Henrik | “Ruler of the home” | Germanic Heinrich |
| Aksel | “Father of peace” | Danish/Norwegian form of Absalom |
| Oskar | Possibly “deer friend” or “god’s spear” | Irish/Norse |
| Magnus | “Great” | Latin; a Norwegian royal name |
| Sverre | Possibly “wild, swinging” | Old Norse Sverrir |
| Mathias | “Gift of God” | Hebrew |
| Johannes | “God is gracious” | Hebrew |
| Sander | Short for Alexander, “defender of men” | Greek |
| Isak | “He will laugh” | Hebrew |
| Theodor | “Gift of God” | Greek |
| Ludvig | “Famous warrior” | Germanic |
Popular Norwegian girl names
Norwegian girls’ names lean bright and vowel-rich. Nora has been one of the country’s top choices for years, and Old Norse revivals like Astrid and Frida sit comfortably beside it.
| Name | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Nora | “Honor” or “light”; short for Eleonora | Latin/Greek |
| Emma | “Whole, universal” | Germanic |
| Ingrid | “Ing is beautiful” | Old Norse |
| Astrid | “God-beautiful” | Old Norse Ástríðr |
| Frida | “Peace” or “beloved” | Germanic/Old Norse |
| Maja | Form of Maria, or the Roman goddess Maia | Latin |
| Thea | “Goddess” | Greek |
| Selma | Possibly “divine helmet” | Germanic/Scandinavian |
| Hedda | Short for Hedvig, “battle, strife” | Germanic |
| Aurora | “Dawn” | Latin; also a Norwegian princess |
| Ella | “All” or “light” | Germanic/Greek |
| Sofie | “Wisdom” | Greek |
| Amalie | “Work, industrious” | Germanic |
| Tuva | Diminutive of Tove, “Thor’s beautiful” | Old Norse |
| Vilde | “Wild” | Norwegian |
Old Norse names with Viking roots
These names were used by Norse speakers a thousand years ago and never really went away in Norway. Pair them with our Norse god names for the mythology behind them.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Sigurd | “Victory guardian” | Boy |
| Eirik | “Ever ruler” | Boy |
| Leif | “Heir, descendant” | Boy |
| Håkon | “High son” | Boy |
| Olav | “Ancestor’s descendant” | Boy |
| Harald | “Army ruler” | Boy |
| Ivar | “Bow warrior” | Boy |
| Gunnar | “Bold warrior” | Boy |
| Ragnar | “Warrior of the gods’ counsel” | Boy |
| Torstein | “Thor’s stone” | Boy |
| Solveig | “Strong house” or “sun strength” | Girl |
| Sigrid | “Beautiful victory” | Girl |
| Ragnhild | “Counsel battle” | Girl |
| Gudrun | “God’s secret lore” | Girl |
| Aslaug | “God-betrothed woman” | Girl |
| Dagny | “New day” | Girl |
| Ylva | “She-wolf” | Girl |
| Idun | Goddess of youth and apples | Girl |
| Gunhild | “Battle battle” | Girl |
| Tora | Feminine of Tor, “thunder” | Girl |
Short Norwegian names (one syllable)
Norway has a real talent for tiny names. They work well as middle names too — see our short baby names for more.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Liv | “Life” | Girl |
| Tor | “Thunder”, from the god Thor | Boy |
| Bjørn | “Bear” | Boy |
| Siv | “Bride”; wife of Thor | Girl |
| Ask | “Ash tree”; the first man in Norse myth | Boy |
| Kjell | “Kettle, cauldron” (helmet) | Boy |
| Eir | “Help, mercy”; a healing goddess | Girl |
| Gro | “To grow” | Girl |
| Stig | “Wanderer, path” | Boy |
| Åse | “God” (short form of Ås- names) | Girl |
| Jens | Danish-Norwegian form of Johannes | Boy |
| Nils | Scandinavian form of Nicholas | Boy |
| Vår | “Spring” | Girl |
| Rune | “Secret lore” | Boy |
Norwegian nature names
Fjords, forests and winter light shape a lot of Norwegian naming. For more like these, see nature names and names that mean wolf.
| Name | Meaning | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Embla | Possibly “elm” or “vine”; the first woman in Norse myth | Girl |
| Birk | “Birch tree” | Boy |
| Sol | “Sun” | Girl |
| Storm | “Storm” | Boy |
| Lind | “Linden tree” | Girl |
| Stein | “Stone” | Boy |
| Fjell | “Mountain” | Boy |
| Snorre | Possibly “onslaught, rush” | Boy |
| Ulv | “Wolf” | Boy |
| Brage | Norse god of poetry | Boy |
| Ørn | “Eagle” | Boy |
| Alva | “Elf” | Girl |
| Svanhild | “Swan battle” | Girl |
| Juni | “June” | Girl |
Common Norwegian last names
Most Norwegian surnames are either patronymics ending in -sen or farm names that describe a landscape. Our full list of Norwegian last names explains both.
| Surname | Meaning | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Hansen | “Son of Hans” | Patronymic |
| Johansen | “Son of Johan” | Patronymic |
| Olsen | “Son of Ole” | Patronymic |
| Larsen | “Son of Lars” | Patronymic |
| Andersen | “Son of Anders” | Patronymic |
| Pedersen | “Son of Peder” | Patronymic |
| Nilsen | “Son of Nils” | Patronymic |
| Berg | “Mountain” | Farm name |
| Haugen | “The hill” | Farm name |
| Dahl | “Valley” | Farm name |
| Bakken | “The slope” | Farm name |
| Lie | “Hillside” | Farm name |
| Moen | “The moor, sandy plain” | Farm name |
| Solberg | “Sun mountain” | Farm name |
| Strand | “Shore” | Farm name |
How to pronounce Norwegian names
A few letters trip up English speakers. Here are names that show the tricky sounds.
| Name | Say it like | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Kjersti | “SHESH-tee” | Kj is a soft “sh”; rs also blends to “sh” |
| Kjetil | “SHAY-til” | Also Ketil in older spelling |
| Jørgen | “YUR-gen” | J = “y”; ø like the “u” in “fur” |
| Håvard | “HOH-var” | Å sounds like “aw/oh”; d is often silent |
| Sjur | “shoor” | Sj = “sh”; a form of Sigurd |
| Øystein | “UY-stain” | Øy is a rounded diphthong |
| Synnøve | “SIN-nuh-veh” | Final e is always pronounced |
| Gjermund | “YAIR-moond” | Gj = “y” |
How to choose a Norwegian name
- Mind the special letters. Names with ø, å or æ look beautiful but often get misspelled abroad; many families use Bjorn or Hakon on English documents.
- Check the hard “j” and “kj”. Jørgen and Kjetil are pronounced with a “y” and “sh” sound, which English speakers rarely guess.
- Go Old Norse for strength. Names built on sig (victory), gunn (battle) and tor (thunder) carry a bold heritage — see our names that mean warrior.
- Borrow from the neighbors. Norway shares many names with Sweden and Denmark; compare with our Swedish names for spelling variants.
- Use a farm name as a middle name. Solberg, Lind or Strand make distinctive middle names with real Norwegian flavor.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common name in Norway?
Among the whole population, Jan, Per, Bjørn and Ole are the most common men’s names, and Anne, Inger, Kari and Marit lead for women. For newborns, names like Nora, Emma, Jakob and Noah have topped Statistics Norway’s lists in recent years.
What are traditional Norwegian names?
Traditional Norwegian names include Ingrid, Kari, Solveig, Sigrid and Ragnhild for girls and Olav, Håkon, Sigurd, Knut and Nils for boys. Many trace back to Old Norse or to medieval saints.
How do Norwegian last names work?
Until the 1900s most Norwegians used patronymics (Olsen, “son of Ole”) or the name of the farm they lived on (Haugen, “the hill”). A 1923 law pushed families to adopt fixed, hereditary surnames.
Are Norwegian names the same as Viking names?
Many overlap. Viking-age names like Eirik, Harald, Astrid and Sigrid are still used in Norway, but modern Norwegian spelling differs from Old Norse (Eiríkr became Eirik, Ástríðr became Astrid).
How do you say the Norwegian letter ø?
Ø is a rounded vowel similar to the “u” in “fur” or the “i” in “bird” said with rounded lips. Bjørn sounds roughly like “byurn”.