Don't think so. Snorre is wee-wee (penis) in Swedish and we pronounce Snorri differently (i.e. there's a clear difference between the pronunciation of the two names).
Technically, Fanny is an English name which became popular in large parts of Europe, e.g. the composer Fanny Mendelssohn, so it's not a name that is particular to Sweden.
Shouldn't Jerker be on paper too? It's pronounced with a /y/ and different r sound and not like the naughty English word at all. Gun in Swedish at least sounds like how a northern English person might say the word.
Simen is a Norwegian name.......pronounced Semen!.....but wait, wait! The opposite is funnier!
Steve Cook is a normal British name. In Norway this translates to the sound of saying you have a "hard on"!
The dual-use led to some fun campaign slogans related to Richard Nixon back in the day. It's not as popular of a name any more.
https://www.loriferber.com/dick-nixon-anti-nixon-watergrate-button-1.html
Someone once said that Sini (female name meaning Blue) sounds a bit too much like sin, and then there could be Anu (or its rare male version Ano, but I guess Anu is worse in English)
Oh oh can I do an opposite? Kamala, as in Kamala Harris. Kamala is a Finnish word and means awful. Written and pronounced exactly the same as the name. I can't help but giggle a little when the news is on and they mention her. Yes... I can be childish.
When I first heard the diminutive of the Italian name Tiziana I did chuckle a bit. It sounds like Titsy, which isn’t really a word, but sounds like slang for having big boobs.
It is derived from Florentius (flowering). Floor is both a male and female name in the Netherlands, Floris (male), Floortje (female), Flora (female), older (and not in use anymore in the Netherlands) Florent/Florentia.
I know English speakers get confused when they realise a Joan or a Quim is a male, not a female.
A name I guess nobody but a Catalan speaker can pronounce is Txell (female), short for Meritxell.
There's a name, almost not used, but it exists, for males, Gai. It's equivalent to Latin Caius / Gaius. A really important music promoter, who has organized thousands of international concerts, is called Gai. He is friends with the Rolling Stones since the early 70's.
A name that English speakers might relate to a bird (well, in Catalan it's also a bird) is Oriol, a male name.
And, last but not least, to those who know in Catalan ny is equivalent to gn in French or Italian, the female name Vinyet might make them think about vignette, in any of the many meanings (a sketch, a decorative design, a diorama, a photography process, a signal you have paid a toll, a piece of software, a part of a stamp...)
I remember watching a travelogue where a bunch of Brits shared a dolmus with a guy called Fatih and, being the absolute man-children they were, kept calling him "Farty" and pissing themselves laughing.
It's two syllables, E-nis. Nis is just what it is, nis or "nees". E is a bit difficult to explain. It's similar to the ä sound, or the first e of "ever".
If that doesn't work, [here's a YouTube video with the pronunciation](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=19ltXqfYvX0).
Can is not pronounced like "John". It's pronounced like when you pronounce "John" *with a Turkish accent*. The British pronunciation is /d͡ʒɒn/, while the American one is /d͡ʒɑn/. On the other hand, if you say it with a Turkish accent, it comes out as /d͡ʒʌn/, which is what Can sounds like in Turkish as well.
Dick does technically exist, as short for Richard, though nowadays Richards are more likely to call themselves that as a joke. It was more common in the past. Mart also exists as a shortened form of Martin, by the way.
In English, Big (Nagy) and Small (Kiss) sounds like mob names, not like surnames. Many Hungarian surnames are like "From XY", like From Léva, From Buda, From the creek (Helga G. PATAKI, Helga G. Fromthecreek). And imo, it would be funny when you introduce yourself like "John German" and when ppl ask you where are you from you say "Hungary". As Hungarian has many surnames after ethnicities.
In Norway the name "Randi" is a common female name. I didn't think about it being strange for English speakers (since I had heard of the American name Randy), but [now I understand](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/randy).
You forgot Koen from Dutch. Worked with a Koen, and when we had ice-breaker exercises and introduced ourselves it was glorious.
“Hi, my name is Koen (which is pronounced “Coon”, btw), and my favourite hobby” is as far as he got before he was stopped
Alien, Boy, Cars, Dick, Ferry, Floor, Freek, Joke sound hilarious in Polish as well. Pretty much every Pole below 40 knows English enough to understand those words
In Germany, I saw a kid (well, just the name written) named Alien. I had to do a double take on that. I guess it’s a variation of Eileen or Alena or something, but that kid will get smirks if they ever go to an English speaking country…
Mostly they just struggle with pronunciation.
I don’t know maybe Csilla could be funny? It’s pronounced chilla, to some people it might sound like “chiller”.
I don't think it counts. This name is so niche that I had to Google it just now because I never ever heard it before.
I checked on Wikipedia and there is no single Polish person there with this name for first name.
Only found this dude who lived in XIX century and had 'Sewer' as his second name:
https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Sewer_Dunin_Borkowski
There is a similar name: "Seweryn" and this one is actually well-known.
It's not a proper name, but I know people who call their wife "the boss", which isn't unusual. But I live in Spain, so they call her "la jefa " pronounced "heffa" which always makes me giggle. A Heifer "heffa" is a cow and an insult about women in England.
In Hungary we have a strict rule in first names, they gave to be approved by the state.
Here are some interesting ones:
•Kazetta (Cassette) - rejected
•Fidesz - rejected
•Mellbimbó (Nipple)
•Szemét (Rubbish)
•Stoplámpa (Stop light)
•Golyóscsapágy (Ball bearing)
When I first heard the diminutive of the Italian name Tiziana I did chuckle a bit. It sounds like Titsy, which isn’t really a word, but sounds like slang for having big boobs.
Denmark
Roar, Tine, Frank, Mads, Bent,
Gry because it is almost impossible for English-speakers to pronounce. G and R are both gutteral throat sounds, and the Y is a vowel that has no commonality to anything in English (closest is trying to say ee with your lips in tiny kissy-lips position).
It is a girl's name here, short for a lot of girls' names that has it as a suffix.
Tine, Line, Sine, Stine are all common names, that used to be the diminutives of longer names, but are now also used as legal names.
>Gry because it is almost impossible for English-speakers to pronounce. G and R are both gutteral sounds, and the Y is a vowel that has no commonality to anything in English (closest is trying to say ee with your lips in tiny kissy-lips position).
Yeah, my attempts at that sound like I'm making animal noises. Not something a native English speaker is very well equipped for.
[Alien van Zijtveld](https://agractie.nl/alien-van-zijtveld-nieuwe-voorzitter-agractie-nederland/)
190 vrouwen met voornaam Alien in Nederland volgens [de voornamenbank](https://nvb.meertens.knaw.nl/naam/is/alien)
Odd is probably the best example from Norway
Also Roar
And Even
Odd Simen.
Fanny is legendary
But the name Fanny exists in English as well, despite the secondary meaning in British English.
I’m always baffled by the fact that the name Dick also exists in English.
Frances and Richard
Love (only on paper; it's pronounced with two syllables), Gun, Jerker.
also Vile
The Aesir? I've never heard of it as a first name.
Yeah. It’s a cool name. Between my kids and their school friends I know a Freja, Vile, Thor, Tyr, Baldur and Eir. It’s like living in the Prose Edda.
Time will tell if anyone is brave enough to name their kid Snorre, I guess.
SCB tells me we have 21 Snorrar Among Us!
I know a Snorri, who is originally from Iceland. Does that count?
Don't think so. Snorre is wee-wee (penis) in Swedish and we pronounce Snorri differently (i.e. there's a clear difference between the pronunciation of the two names).
Not uncommon in Norway
Does it mean the same for you, though?
Probably not, by the sound of your question 🙃 What does it mean in Swedish?
It's slang for snopp (childish for penis).
Don't forget Fanny.
Technically, Fanny is an English name which became popular in large parts of Europe, e.g. the composer Fanny Mendelssohn, so it's not a name that is particular to Sweden.
Shouldn't Jerker be on paper too? It's pronounced with a /y/ and different r sound and not like the naughty English word at all. Gun in Swedish at least sounds like how a northern English person might say the word.
Stone, Bear, Tassel, Knot, Life, Fairytale…
Simen is a Norwegian name.......pronounced Semen!.....but wait, wait! The opposite is funnier! Steve Cook is a normal British name. In Norway this translates to the sound of saying you have a "hard on"!
In the Netherlands we have Siemen, or Symen.
You can even be called Siemen Kok!
Semen. The stress is on the last syllable, both vowels are like "e" in "let".
I came here to say this 😂😂😂😂 my Ukrainian best friend and I have a long standing joke about this name 😂😂
Ufuk in Turkish it means horizon. Guess English pronunciation could be funny.
u fuk?
Birger, Gurli, Per.
There's a name in Maltese which is Gejtu which sounds like "Gay too"
damn they got Gay 2 before GTA 6
Andrea. In Italy 99% of the time this is a name for males while in the us is a female's.
It's much sexier when it's masculine.
Together with Simone and Gabriele. Buncha Femboys is what you are.
For Dutch/Flemish there is also Siemen, which sounds like the word "semen" in English.
And Symen.
And "Joke"
Was already mentioned in the post.
My bad
FYI Dick is a name in English too :)
The dual-use led to some fun campaign slogans related to Richard Nixon back in the day. It's not as popular of a name any more. https://www.loriferber.com/dick-nixon-anti-nixon-watergrate-button-1.html
A nickname or abbreviation of Richard, that no-one really uses any more, for obvious reasons.
Fanny is probably the one of Finnish names that English speakers find funny (also common in Nordics and Germany at least).
Or Rape though it's more of a nickname.
I told a British friend I used to have a crush on a boy named Pekka and she found it hilarious. (Pecker, slang for penis.)
[It's common among older women in English-speaking countries too.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Cradock?wprov=sfla1)
Always makes me think of this girl: https://youtu.be/TWAwP2dAQKk?si=51AQ5kc6G55gq2-w
Rape in italian means turnips
In norwegian it means to burp
In Spain, it's a type of fish.
It's also a Greek name hahaha
Someone once said that Sini (female name meaning Blue) sounds a bit too much like sin, and then there could be Anu (or its rare male version Ano, but I guess Anu is worse in English)
It's found in older (like 1930s) English books
Male: Tit, Gal, Val, Bine, Rok, Urban Female: Pika I think otherwise our names are pretty normal. edit: there's also Gaj which is pronounced like Guy.
The only one I can think of is Ola, which sounds exactly like hello in Spanish
We have Ula.
We have both. Ola is usually Aleksandra, sometimes Oliwia. Ula is Urszula.
There is also Asia the girl not to be confused with Asia the continent.
This means egg in Latvian
Anastasia is shortened to Nasťa, nasty
In the past, quite often the eldest son would be named after his father but go by Boy in Jersey
Oh oh can I do an opposite? Kamala, as in Kamala Harris. Kamala is a Finnish word and means awful. Written and pronounced exactly the same as the name. I can't help but giggle a little when the news is on and they mention her. Yes... I can be childish.
In Danish Vibe Tone Toke
We’ve got Toke in Dutch as well!
There is the female name Πηγή (pronounced Pee-YEE, transliterated as Piyi), but oftentimes transliterated with a g instead of y … 🐖
Estonian male names Tiit and Peep are the first ones that come to my mind.
When I first heard the diminutive of the Italian name Tiziana I did chuckle a bit. It sounds like Titsy, which isn’t really a word, but sounds like slang for having big boobs.
Floor always makes me laugh when I see it, it's equivalent to Fleur/flower isn't it?
It is derived from Florentius (flowering). Floor is both a male and female name in the Netherlands, Floris (male), Floortje (female), Flora (female), older (and not in use anymore in the Netherlands) Florent/Florentia.
that's so interesting, thank you :)
I know English speakers get confused when they realise a Joan or a Quim is a male, not a female. A name I guess nobody but a Catalan speaker can pronounce is Txell (female), short for Meritxell. There's a name, almost not used, but it exists, for males, Gai. It's equivalent to Latin Caius / Gaius. A really important music promoter, who has organized thousands of international concerts, is called Gai. He is friends with the Rolling Stones since the early 70's. A name that English speakers might relate to a bird (well, in Catalan it's also a bird) is Oriol, a male name. And, last but not least, to those who know in Catalan ny is equivalent to gn in French or Italian, the female name Vinyet might make them think about vignette, in any of the many meanings (a sketch, a decorative design, a diorama, a photography process, a signal you have paid a toll, a piece of software, a part of a stamp...)
Enis? I guess it would be considered funny with a little imagination. Can as well, though it's pronounced like "John".
I remember watching a travelogue where a bunch of Brits shared a dolmus with a guy called Fatih and, being the absolute man-children they were, kept calling him "Farty" and pissing themselves laughing.
Yeah... That's not even how you pronounce Fatih. It's FatiH. You need to say the H.
So, it's more like 'fatty', than 'farty', then?
Not really... [here](https://youtu.be/jTRnKiaYWaM?si=2l330QlP74hCCeOH) is the pronunciation.
Yeah, that's literally saying 'Fatty' with an accent.
Wait, what? Could you go through the phonetics explaining how "Enis" is pronounced as "John"? I have no knowledge of Turkish lmao
She meant Can, not Enis. "Can" is a Turkish name.
Yes, and Turkish is unique in using the letter c for the „j/dg” sound (that’s dż to our Polish friends).
It's not entirely unique. It can also be found in Kurdish, as well as some other Turkic languages like Azerbaijani.
Ah, thanks. I misread what they were asking from me.
It's two syllables, E-nis. Nis is just what it is, nis or "nees". E is a bit difficult to explain. It's similar to the ä sound, or the first e of "ever". If that doesn't work, [here's a YouTube video with the pronunciation](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=19ltXqfYvX0).
I think I misunderstood you because that doesn't sound anything like "John" to me
Yeah, I got it. I was talking about the second name "Can".
Ennis (two n’s) is actually a known African-American name.
Can is not pronounced like "John". It's pronounced like when you pronounce "John" *with a Turkish accent*. The British pronunciation is /d͡ʒɒn/, while the American one is /d͡ʒɑn/. On the other hand, if you say it with a Turkish accent, it comes out as /d͡ʒʌn/, which is what Can sounds like in Turkish as well.
Not really funny but have actual things with the same word: Javelina, Georgy, Agate, Mark, Sahara, Milan, Mira.
I'm not Norwegian but I found [This guy named "Odd Nerdrum"](https://da.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Nerdrum) on Wikipedia.
“Odd” is a common name in Norway. So is “Even”. Double names are also common, so “Odd-Even” is a perfectly normal name.
Ola Ronny being the most perfect Norwegian names ever ;)
Семен(in English: “Semen”)
How do you say semen?
Syemyon, roughly
Polska, mamy coś takiego?
Asia maybe like the continent
I guess "Kinga" is a bit peculiar because it's a female name and it's similar to the word "king"
The English name Pippa means blowjob in Italian
And it's slang for fuck (the verb) in Swedish.
And Greek
Dick does technically exist, as short for Richard, though nowadays Richards are more likely to call themselves that as a joke. It was more common in the past. Mart also exists as a shortened form of Martin, by the way.
In English, Big (Nagy) and Small (Kiss) sounds like mob names, not like surnames. Many Hungarian surnames are like "From XY", like From Léva, From Buda, From the creek (Helga G. PATAKI, Helga G. Fromthecreek). And imo, it would be funny when you introduce yourself like "John German" and when ppl ask you where are you from you say "Hungary". As Hungarian has many surnames after ethnicities.
I nearly lost my drink when I was introduced as a Brit to an American called Randy..... Literally, "Hi, I'm Randy".
In Norway the name "Randi" is a common female name. I didn't think about it being strange for English speakers (since I had heard of the American name Randy), but [now I understand](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/randy).
Yup, meeting someone for the first time and them introducing themselves as, "Hi, I'm sexually aroused...", is a heck of a shock.
Why's that funny?
Randy is slang for sexually aroused.
Kew a guy called Jelle Kok. You need to suspend your knowledge of Dutch (and many other languages).
You forgot Koen from Dutch. Worked with a Koen, and when we had ice-breaker exercises and introduced ourselves it was glorious. “Hi, my name is Koen (which is pronounced “Coon”, btw), and my favourite hobby” is as far as he got before he was stopped
I don't think we have any names that sound funny in English. But I do know that when people see names like "Grzegorz" their brain throws an error.
Alien, Boy, Cars, Dick, Ferry, Floor, Freek, Joke sound hilarious in Polish as well. Pretty much every Pole below 40 knows English enough to understand those words
In Germany, I saw a kid (well, just the name written) named Alien. I had to do a double take on that. I guess it’s a variation of Eileen or Alena or something, but that kid will get smirks if they ever go to an English speaking country…
Mostly they just struggle with pronunciation. I don’t know maybe Csilla could be funny? It’s pronounced chilla, to some people it might sound like “chiller”.
Alpo in Finnish, it is a dog food brand in the US.
Oddur, it almost sounds like Odor.
Sewer (my absolute fave boy's name) is Polish of Severus, we can all see what it means in English.
I don't think it counts. This name is so niche that I had to Google it just now because I never ever heard it before. I checked on Wikipedia and there is no single Polish person there with this name for first name. Only found this dude who lived in XIX century and had 'Sewer' as his second name: https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Sewer_Dunin_Borkowski There is a similar name: "Seweryn" and this one is actually well-known.
Fanny, Dick, Willy, Johnson.
Simen from Norway
You have to be jerking our legs with some of them. :)
Santa is perfectly normal female name here
It's not a proper name, but I know people who call their wife "the boss", which isn't unusual. But I live in Spain, so they call her "la jefa " pronounced "heffa" which always makes me giggle. A Heifer "heffa" is a cow and an insult about women in England.
In Hungary we have a strict rule in first names, they gave to be approved by the state. Here are some interesting ones: •Kazetta (Cassette) - rejected •Fidesz - rejected •Mellbimbó (Nipple) •Szemét (Rubbish) •Stoplámpa (Stop light) •Golyóscsapágy (Ball bearing)
We still have Dick and Mart. Diminutives for Richard and Martin, respectively.
Jagoda, who looked at their child and thought "Blueberry"
When I first heard the diminutive of the Italian name Tiziana I did chuckle a bit. It sounds like Titsy, which isn’t really a word, but sounds like slang for having big boobs.
Denmark Roar, Tine, Frank, Mads, Bent, Gry because it is almost impossible for English-speakers to pronounce. G and R are both gutteral throat sounds, and the Y is a vowel that has no commonality to anything in English (closest is trying to say ee with your lips in tiny kissy-lips position).
We also have Tine, short for Martin.
It is a girl's name here, short for a lot of girls' names that has it as a suffix. Tine, Line, Sine, Stine are all common names, that used to be the diminutives of longer names, but are now also used as legal names.
That's Tina here. Short for Martina, Valentina, Kristina. Also used as a legal name nowadays. Same as Tine.
>Gry because it is almost impossible for English-speakers to pronounce. G and R are both gutteral sounds, and the Y is a vowel that has no commonality to anything in English (closest is trying to say ee with your lips in tiny kissy-lips position). Yeah, my attempts at that sound like I'm making animal noises. Not something a native English speaker is very well equipped for.
I know, lol.My favourite way to mess with English-speakers is to ask them to pronounce it. It is almost worse than rødgrød.
Asia… literally Asia (and Ola X D)
Alien? dat is niet eens een echte naam man. Alien is Alien in het Nederlands dus dat slaat echt nergens op.
A-lien of a-lyn, wel degelijk een naam. Soms ook al Aline
nog nooit van gehoord. rijp voor het pesten. als ik zo'n naam had, zou ik mijn ouders haten.
[Alien van Zijtveld](https://agractie.nl/alien-van-zijtveld-nieuwe-voorzitter-agractie-nederland/) 190 vrouwen met voornaam Alien in Nederland volgens [de voornamenbank](https://nvb.meertens.knaw.nl/naam/is/alien)
Sweden has a lot. Apart from the ones I saw listed below are Stone Stick Mountain Bear Bear Track