Leif

Leif is a male given name of Scandinavian origin. It is derived from the Old Norse name Leifr (nominative case), meaning "heir", "descendant", "beloved".[2]

This article is about the given name. For other uses, see Leif (disambiguation).
Leif
PronunciationEnglish: /ˈlaɪf/ or /ˈleɪf/[1]
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameScandinavian
MeaningHeir, descendant
Other names
Related namesElof, Olaf

Use in the Nordic countries

Spelling and prevalence

Across the Nordic countries, the most commonly occurring spelling of the name is Leif, however, there are some well-established regional variants:

In Norway, about 17,000 men have Leif as their first (or only) name.[7] In Sweden, 70,000 men have the name Leif, about 60% of them as a first name.[8] As of 2018, about 15,000 Danish men have Leif as their first name.[9] In Finland, as of 2012, 4,628 men have Leif as a first name.[10] In U.S, as of 2015, 6,415 men have Leif as a first name.

Pronunciation

Because the Scandinavian languages differ in their pronunciation of the digraphs ⟨ei⟩ and ⟨ej⟩, the name Leif may be either pronounced as an approximate rhyme for "safe", or approximately like the English word "life", In Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Western Norway, it is an approximate rhyme with "safe". In Denmark, much of Norway, and the southern and western regions of the Faroe Islands, the name is pronounced more like "life", while the only exception to this pattern is in the northern and eastern regions of the Faroe Islands where it is an approximate rhyme with the English word "coif". In no Scandinavian region is the name pronounced like the most commonly heard English language pronunciation, "leaf", as that would be a homophone of the unrelated female name Liv/Lif.

People

References
  1. "leif". Dictionary.reference.com.
  2. https://www.fornamn.se/leif-pojknamn/
  3. "Name Statistics". Statistics Norway.
  4. "How many have the name". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  5. "Names of males by age 1 January 2005". Statistics Iceland. November 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  6. "Population and Elections". Statistics Faroe Islands. August 2011. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  7. "Leif". NorskeNavn.no. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  8. "Namnsökning. Hur många heter...?". Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  9. Hvor mange hedder... - Danmarks Statistik
  10. "Population Register Centre Name Service". Population Information System of Finland.
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