Kare Hedebrant

[bore]

Speaking of Kåre, shouldn't he be finished with elementary school by now? (Or, like, a week ago oslt.)

[Ash]

'.....that gave me the correct pronunciation of his middle name...."

Do Swedish names have meanings like English ones do? I guess they do. For example - George is of Greek origin meaning "farmer".
If so, what does Ajvide mean? Is it biblical, or something more down-to-earth?

[bore]

Do Swedish names have meanings like English ones do? I guess they do. For example - George is of Greek origin meaning "farmer".
If so, what does Ajvide mean? Is it biblical, or something more down-to-earth?

Yes, many Swedish names means something. According to Namnboken Kåre could mean one or several of the following: curly-haired, stubborn, fighting and/or reluctant. Other traditional names are Sten, Stig, Björn and Ulf, meaning Rock, Path, Bear and Wolf.

I am not sure of the exact meaning of Ajvide but vide means willow.
In the case of John I don't think Ajvide is his middle name. I find it more likely that he uses double last names. His original family name Lindqvist and Ajvide from his wife. (I have no sources for this, if it is of importance for you you should probably look for a reliable source.)
I guess that John's full last name then translates to something like Willow Lindentwig.

[Ash]

My first name is also means tree, so I guess we are both tree people
I guess these names are very old, perhaps animistic, pre-dating the Christian influence on names.

[metoo]

If so, what does Ajvide mean? Is it biblical, or something more down-to-earth?

Like Bore said, Ajvide is the surname of JAL's wife. He probably took it as an additional name (tilläggsnamn) when he married Mia. Ajvide is also a place on Gotland, the island in the Baltic sea. I don't know the significance of this coincidence.

[bore]

I guess these names are very old, perhaps animistic, pre-dating the Christian influence on names.

Unlikely. Christian influence in Sweden began before last names were common. This was discussed to greater length in this thread.

meetoo posted a link with some more detailed information.

Det vanligaste icke "-son" namnen är Lindberg, följt av Lindkvist och Lindgren.

Namn som hantverkare:
Under nya tiden, dvs efter 1521 började stadsbefolkningen efter utländskt bruk att anta familjenamn. Bland de namn som antogs inom borgerskapet märks tyska yrkesnamn som Schneider (skräddare) och Müller eller Möller (mjölnare).
Man övergav patronymikon och det blev vanligt att hantverkare antog olika efternamn som var vanliga inom hantverket. Normalt antogs dock inte dessa "yrkesnamn" förrän man avlagt och klarat gesällprovet. Fram till dess hade man med andra ord sina patronymikon.

Hantverkarnas efternamn var ofta hämtade från namn på träd eller från namn som var förknippade till olika former i naturen (topografiska namnformer) och var ofta flerstaviga. Trädet lind var ett vanligt inslag i hantverkarnamnen.

Exempel:
Lindberg, Almgren, Björk, Lindgren, Björkegren, Björkman, Lindström, Boklund, Gran
Lindblad, Ekman, Enkvist, Lindblom, Grankvist, Appelgren, Lind, Hägglund

In summary:
After 1521 common people started to use family names. The use of words related to nature were common among craftsmen.

[atomicmouth]

Okay, now that that's settled, how about the last name? I figured at first that there was nothing to it and it would be pronounced exactly as it looks to my American, English-speaking eyes. I was thinking "head-uh-brant," but after reading some of the responses, I'm not so sure. Is it "hey-deh-brant" instead? Do you roll the "R" just like in his first name? I hope not because that's the toughest part for lazy Southern tongues like mine

[bore]

Hedebrant is pretty much the two words hede and brant combined.

For pronounciation of hede you can listen to the pronounciation of hedestad
What brant sounds like.
Hedebrant means heath-steep or something like that..

Do you roll the "R" just like in his first name? I hope not because that's the toughest part for lazy Southern tongues like mine

Yes, you roll the "R" just like in his first name. Perhaps you should try it with a fake scottish accent.

[metoo]

Do you roll the "R" just like in his first name? I hope not because that's the toughest part for lazy Southern tongues like mine

The pronunciation of R isn't very critical in Swedish, different dialects pronounce it differently. You can actually manage with a American R, but try to put it more to the front of the mouth.

[atomicmouth]

Hedebrant is pretty much the two words hede and brant combined.

For pronounciation of hede you can listen to the pronounciation of hedestad
What brant sounds like.
Hedebrant means heath-steep or something like that..

Yes, you roll the "R" just like in his first name. Perhaps you should try it with a fake scottish accent.

Thanks, Bore. I'll practice my "R."