My son is in high school and is going to be an exchange student in Sweden next year.
Our family background is Swedish. His first name is a typical American name, but his middle name is Swedish, and our last name is Swedish.
For example, John Sture Andersson.
Nobody calls him Sture in the US; people can’t pronounce it. But he has been asking Swedish people who he’s met (so far, as part of the exchange program process) to call him Sture.
Is that weird; if he asks people in Sweden to call him Sture, will Swedes make fun of him or think that his request is bizarre, since he is called John in the US? And is the name “Sture” a nice name?
Thanks.
Det här inlägget arkiverades automatiskt av Leddit-botten. Vill du diskutera tråden? Registrera dig på feddit.nu!
The original was posted on /r/sweden by /u/CraftAccomplished784 at 2024-03-27 13:08:14+00:00.
Merinther at 2024-03-27 16:42:25+00:00 ID:
kwtlbqiIs it weird? Eh, maybe a little, but it’s no big deal. I’ve met people who used one name with their parents and another with their friends. It happens. And in most cases you wouldn’t need to tell anyone.
Is Sture a nice name? It’s a matter of opinion, of course. It’s fairly common, but mostly with the older generation. Maybe it’ll make a comeback, but it would stand out among high school students.
Also, how sure are you that he can pronounce it? Not being able to pronounce your own name might be a bit awkward. If you don’t speak Swedish at home, it seems very likely that his pronunciation would be noticeably un-Swedish. It’s easy to learn that the E isn’t silent, but getting the U and R right is hard. And a more international pronunciation of the U would make it sound like the Swedish word store, which can mean “(the) great” or “(the) large one” – maybe not something you want to go around calling yourself.