Tove is a

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

that derives from the Old Norse name Tófa or from the Old Norse name Þórfríðr, which combines ''Thor'' with "fríðr".

Origins

Some believe the name to be a shortening of ''Þorfríðr'', whose elements are the deity-name

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

and Old Norse ''fríðr'' 'beautiful'. Tófa and Tófi appear to have been relatively popular names in the 10th and 11th centuries and are found in Anglo-Scandinavian court witness lists and later in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

in their Latinised form. The personal name became a surname in medieval England, with spellings of Tovi, Tovie (16th century) and Tovey recorded in wills and church documents.

Notable women

Tove of the Obotrites Tove of the Obotrites, also called ''Tova'', ''Tofa'' or ''Thora'', (10th century) was a Slavic princess and a Danish Viking Age queen consort, the spouse of King Harald Bluetooth. Tofa, her name carved in runes as ᛏᚢᚠᛅ'','' was the ...

, 10th-century Wendish princess * Tove Alexandersson, Swedish orienteer * Tove Ditlevsen, Danish poet and author * Tove Edfeldt, Swedish actress * Tove Fergo, Danish vicar and politician *

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

, Finnish artist and author * Tove Lindbo Larsen, Danish politician *

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Referring to her autobiographical lyrics, ''Out (magazine), O ...

, Swedish singer * Tove Midelfart, Norwegian lawyer and businesswoman * Tove Maës, Danish actress * Tove Nilsen, Norwegian writer * Tove Nielsen, Danish politician * Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (1940-2023), Finnish linguist and educator * Tove Styrke, Swedish singer *

Birte Tove Birte Tove (née Birte Tove Sørensen; 1945–2016), was a Danish actress and nude model. She is best known for her work in the 1970s Bedside-films (), an erotic film series produced by A/S Palladium. Her films were popular internationally, and ...

(1945–2016), Danish actress and nude model

Notable men

* Tove (sculptor), 12th-century Scanian sculptor *

Tove Christensen Tove Christensen (born February 2, 1973) is a Canadian- American film producer and actor. He is the older brother of actor Hayden Christensen. Early life Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Alie, an American speechw ...

, Canadian actor and producer

Fictional characters

* a legendary young woman, mistress of the Danish King Waldemar, and subject of a poem by Jens Peter Jacobsen best known for its musical setting as the

Gurre-Lieder ' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...

of Arnold Schoenberg * a fictional, slithy creature created by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

that appears in his poem

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a Nonsense verse, nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' ...

References

{{given name Scandinavian feminine given names Swedish feminine given names Danish feminine given names Norwegian feminine given names Feminine given names

Origins

Notable women

Notable men

Fictional characters

See also

References