Leif is a male given name of
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...
n origin. It is derived from the Old Norse name ''Leifr'' (
nominative case
In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Eng ...
), meaning "heir", "descendant".
Use in the Nordic countries
Spelling and prevalence
Across the
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...
, the most commonly occurring spelling of the name is ''Leif'', however, there are some well-established regional variants:
* – Leiv
* – Lejf
* – Leifur
* – Leivur
In Norway, about 17,000 men have Leif as their first (or only) name. In Sweden, 70,000 men have the name Leif, about 60% of them as a first name. As of 2018, about 15,000 Danish men have Leif as their first name.
Hvor mange hedder... - Danmarks Statistik
/ref> In Finland, as of 2012, 4,628 men have Leif as a first name.
Pronunciation
Because the Scandinavian languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is als ...
differ in their pronunciation of the digraphs and , the name Leif may be either pronounced as an approximate rhyme for "safe", or approximately like the English word "life", In Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Western Norway, it is an approximate rhyme with "safe". In Denmark, much of Norway, and the southern and western regions of the Faroe Islands, the name is pronounced more like "life", while 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 Scandinavian region is the name pronounced like the most commonly heard English language pronunciation, "leaf", as that would be a homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...
of the unrelated female name Liv/Lif.
People
* Leif Ove Andsnes (born 1970), Norwegian pianist and exponent of Edvard Grieg
* Leif Axmyr (1938–2018), Swedish murderer
* Leif Bergdahl (born 1941), Swedish physician and politician
* Leif Blomberg (1941–1998), Swedish trade unionist and politician
* Leif Davidsen
Leif Davidsen (born 25 July 1950 in Otterup) is a Danish author and journalist.
Career
Educated as a journalist, in 1977 he started working in Spain as a freelance journalist for Danmarks Radio. In 1980 he began covering Soviet news with fre ...
(born 1950), Danish crime fiction writer
* Leif Davis (born 1999), English footballer
* Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...
( 970 – 1020), Norse explorer regarded as having discovered North America before Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
* Leif Garrett (born 1961), Norwegian-American singer and actor
* Leif Hård (born 1944), Swedish politician
* Leif Hoste (born 1977), Belgian road cyclist
* Leif Juster (1910–1995), Norwegian comedian, actor and singer.
* Leif Larsen (1906-1990) Norwegian sailor and the most highly decorated allied naval officer of World War II
* Leif Linde (born 1955), Swedish politician
* Leif Nysmed (born 1970), Swedish politician
* Leif Olsen (1927–2012), Norwegian footballer
* Leif Panduro (1923–1977), Danish novelist and dramatist
* Leif G. W. Persson
Leif Gustav Willy Persson (born 12 March 1945) is a Swedish criminologist and novelist. Persson has four children, one of whom, Malin Persson Giolito, is also a crime writer.
Early life
Leif Gustav Willy Persson was born on 12 March 1945 in Stoc ...
(born 1945), Swedish criminologist, whistle-blower and novelist
* Leif Segerstam (born 1944), Finnish conductor and composer
* Leif Shiras (born 1959), American tennis player
* Leif Tronstad (1903–1945), Norwegian scientist, intelligence officer and military organizer
* Leif Vollebekk, Canadian singer-songwriter
* Le1f (born Khalif Diouf in 1989), American rapper and producer from New York
* Leif Arrhenius Swedish track athlete
See also
*
*
References
{{given name, nocat
Scandinavian masculine given names
Swedish masculine given names
Norwegian masculine given names
Danish masculine given names
Icelandic masculine given names