300+ Viking Names

It looks unfamiliar at first, but we think this strong Danish name is worthy of further consideration. It has a great meaning and is unusual without being a mouthful or too challenging. To us it feels like an arty or creative name, perhaps because one famous bearer, Asger Jorn, was an avant-garde sculptor and painter.

Alvis, sometimes spelled Alviss, is a dwarf in Norse mythology who claims to know everything and names all the features of the natural world to show off to Thor, whose daughter Alvis wants to marry. But he gets so caught up in showing off his knowledge that the sun comes up and turns him to stone.

A relic of the midcentury Mandi-Sandi-Andi era.

So airy, it's almost not there.

Mythological goddess of fertility whose name seems, ironically, among the least attractive.

An interesting and attractive bicultural choice--the Hebrew version is used for babies born in spring, when turtledoves arrive--especially as a middle.

Old Norse name that lives on more appealingly in modern times as Jalmari, short form Jari.

Often stands alone in Israel, but rarely here.

This shortened variation of Aaron—it was Elvis's middle name—is now a widely used choice.

A Norse goddess who was one of the nine mothers of Heimdall. Atli, the masculine form, is related to the popular Hungarian name Attila.

In Old Norse mythology Máni is the god of the Moon, brother to Sól, the goddess of the Sun.

Freya or Freida makes a more wearable option for an American baby. Freydís Eiríksdóttir was a female Viking warrior from Norse mythology and the half-sister of Leif Erikson.

This old Norse name is still used in contemporary Scandinavia. An ancient hero's name, Sigurd got a modern boost from a heroic figure in television's The Vikings.

After cracking the US Top 200 in the early 2000s, fueled by Jacob's rise, this name has been losing steam in recent years. But Jakob is the top form of the name in many other countries, cultures, and languages, ranking highly in Germany, Norway, Austria, Iceland, and Slovenia. Jakub is the Polish variation.

Once popular (and still familiar) in Norway, Stian could make an interesting choice for anyone with northern European roots. It is a modern form of the Norse Stígandr, with its appealing, wanderer meaning.

Scandinavian names are fashionable these days, and Torsten is one that is used only occasionally: About 20 baby boys were named Torsten in the US last year.

Freyr is the Norse god of fertility, sunlight, and peace. He features prominently in the Icelandic mythology collections the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, and is considered an ancestor of the Swedish royal family.

The name of two figures in Norse mythology: one the father of Nótt, the personification of the night; the other a son of Loki and Sigyn, who is transformed into a wolf (or killed by one, depending on your source). The name may mean "narrow", or possibly "demon of the dead".