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.
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The original was posted on /r/sweden by /u/CraftAccomplished784 at 2024-03-27 13:08:14+00:00.
RandomKnifeBro at 2024-03-27 15:03:57+00:00 ID:
kwt3hol
This is no unreasonable at all. I use my middle name when i speak to people in english or do business in english speaking countries. Because John is the most basic english white guy name and easy to remember. And i use my first name with friends and family and in my home country.
dwitchagi at 2024-03-27 14:44:43+00:00 ID:
kwszch1
My great uncle is named Sture. Names come back around I guess, but still a bit odd for a kid. I’d wear it with pride, though, as a middle name :)
aggesmamma at 2024-03-27 15:11:13+00:00 ID:
kwt5fdi
Sture is such a rad name. I hope your son will love his stay in Sweden 🇸🇪
z0rm at 2024-03-27 16:26:28+00:00 ID:
kwtjqam
John is a pretty common Swedish name as well. Among his age group it is definitively more common and more Swedish than Sture, that’s just an old peoples name nowadays.
storman_sten at 2024-03-27 16:22:59+00:00 ID:
kwthue0
Sture is pretty based name
Junior-Mistake315 at 2024-03-27 15:33:23+00:00 ID:
kwt8t88
What is weird is you making a big deal about it and posting it on Reddit. Maybe he wants to commit to feel a bit more Swedish or maybe he just likes it?
abbufreja at 2024-03-27 16:21:55+00:00 ID:
kwthg1g
I Swedish due go by my middle name. Its not uncommon to do so
Flimsy-Turnover1667 at 2024-03-27 13:24:35+00:00 ID:
kwsls4x
The name that you go by isn’t always the first name in Sweden, so that isn’t a problem at all. I, for example, have two names that are before my given name on my passport but they’re not names I would react to if I heard them.
Is Sture a good name? Sure. It’s a bit old-fashioned maybe but nothing crazy. Old-fashioned names have become quite popular recently so it wouldn’t stand out as weird.
Razulath at 2024-03-27 13:27:38+00:00 ID:
kwsm8re
My name is my second name and not my first name. It happens.
pillevinks at 2024-03-27 14:22:11+00:00 ID:
kwsved0
My brother always went by his middle name, I in fact didn’t know it WAS his middle name. Apparently when he was small, he didn’t “like” when our parents called him that, so the middle name stuck instead.
My father also, was called by his middle name because he had a sibling that ended up being called my dad’s first (as a nickname lol).
Anyway sounds like your kiddo UNDERSTANDABLY wants to connect to the country, so he’s now Sture. Which is a pretty uninteresting and normal name.
Note: I had a few names that varied between who was calling me out. My parents had a pet name for me, my brother a different, friends a third, and when formality demanded, my legal name.
“What’s in a name”
Chris_Tanbul at 2024-03-27 14:23:42+00:00 ID:
kwswmwm
I hope his Swedish middle name is Björn. Who wouldn’t want to be called Bear? 🐻
Expensive_Tap7427 at 2024-03-27 14:30:51+00:00 ID:
kwswtg0
Not at all. I’m Erik Johan and for some reason my parents gave my second (middle) as my given name.
Fille-pille-korvsas at 2024-03-27 14:31:53+00:00 ID:
kwsxaml
It’s perfectly normal as long as he introduces himself as Sture. I am technically not going by my first name but instead uses my middle name as my “tilltalsnamn”
ProffesorSpitfire at 2024-03-27 14:34:40+00:00 ID:
kwsxe9s
If he introduces himself as Sture and request to be called Sture, people will call him Sture, nobody will think that’s strange. It’s actually not that uncommon to use a name that’s really your second or third name.
As for the name Sture, I’m not entirely sure what you mean by ”nice name”? Assuming your son is around 20, it will be a fairly uncommon and perhaps a bit old-fashioned name in his age group. It’s a typical boomer name, not dissimilar from Ronald or Dorothy in the US I believe. Although I expect it has just had or is just about to have a renaissance. Names typically get fashionable again after around 60-70 years.
karbmo at 2024-03-27 14:35:14+00:00 ID:
kwsxltr
Damn, Sture is a nice name!
Definitely coming back and getting a popularity swing as it enters another name popularity cycle like all names do. I can feel it coming, oh yeah.