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", "lucky".

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:

•  Norway – Leiv^[2]
•  Denmark – Lejf^[3]
•  Iceland – Leifur [ˈleɪvʏr̥]^[4]
•  Faroe Islands – Leivur [ˈlaɪvʊɹ]^[5]

In Norway, about 17,000 men have Leif as their first (or only) name.^[6] In Sweden, 70,000 men have the name Leif, about 60% of them as a first name.^[7] As of 2008, about 18,000 Danish men have Leif as their first name.^[8] In Finland, as of 2012, 4,628 men have Leif as a first name.^[9] In U.S, as of 2015, 6,415 men have Leif as a first name.

Although common in the Nordic countries, the name Leif has declined in use since the 1950s. Because of this, the name has become associated with an older generation throughout the region.^[2][9]

Pronunciation

Because the Scandinavian languages differ in their pronunciation of the digraphs ⟨ei⟩ and ⟨ej⟩, the name Leif may be either pronounced approximately like the English word "life", or as an approximate rhyme for "safe". In Denmark, much of Norway, and the southern and western regions of the Faroe Islands the name is pronounced more like "life", while in Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Western Norway it is an approximate rhyme with "safe". 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 region is the name pronounced like the most commonly heard English pronunciation, "leaf", as that would be a homophone of the unrelated female name Liv/Lif.

Men known as Leif

• Leif Davidsen (born 1950), Danish crime fiction writer
• Leif Erikson (c. 970 – c. 1020), Norse explorer regarded as having discovered North America before Christopher Columbus
• Leif Garrett (born 1961), Norwegian-American singer and actor
• Leif Hoste (born 1977), Belgian road cyclist
• Leif Juster (1910–1995), Norwegian comedian, actor and singer.
• Leif Ove Andsnes (born 1970), Norwegian pianist and exponent of Edvard Grieg
• Leif Panduro (1923–1977), Danish novelist and dramatist
• Leif G. W. Persson (born 1945), Swedish criminologist, whistle-blower and novelist
• Leif Segerstam (born 1944), Finnish conductor and composer
• Leif Shiras (born 1959), retired American tennis player
• Leif Tronstad (1903–1945), Norwegian scientist, intelligence officer and military organizer
• Le1f (born Khalif Diouf in 1989), American rapper and producer from New York.

References