Malm, Billy or Stig: Ikea inspires parents when choosing their baby's name

Who would say that looking at the Ikea catalog you can end up deciding what you will name your child? Well, apparently it is a trend that inspires some parents when choosing the name of their baby .

New parents, born after the nineties, and lovers of Scandinavian culture would be the most likely to have their children named after iconic furniture and products of the Swedish brand such as Malm, Billy, Tarva or Stig .

According to the Babycenter site “IKEA is known for the lovely Scandinavian names it gives to its products and many work surprisingly well as baby names.” Some of them are gender neutral, so they would fit well for both boy and girl.

Where do the names of Ikea products come from?

If you’ve ever wondered who decides these names, where they come from, Ikea’s ‘naming’ formula deserves a separate chapter. The names are selected from a gigantic database, and where they come from depends on the product category. For example:

• To designate tables, chairs or shelves, the firm uses Scandinavian boy names such as Alex, Tobías or Billy.

• For curtains and other textile objects, girl names such as Ofelia, Matilda, Sofía or Ritva.

• For beds, sofas or armchairs, it is inspired by place names such as the Orje bed, a city near Oslo or the Melby armchair.

• Swedish lake and river names are used to designate bathroom items, such as the Bolmen stool, which is a lake located in southern Sweden.

• For outdoor furniture, Scandinavian island names.

Believe it or not, there is a dictionary, created by Swedish Lars Petrus, which translates most of the store’s names into English. If you are curious or if you lack inspiration for more names you can consult it.

Now, knowing the origin of the names, we see that many of them are Scandinavian proper names , so it would not be so unreasonable for parents to choose names of Ikea items for their children, a trend quite on the rise after Scandinavian series such as Borgen or Vikings.

Ikea-inspired boy names

• Billy (bookstore): Swedish boy’s proper name, short for Bill and William.

• Malm (shelves): means “mineral”

• Tarva (comfortable): means “ask for help”, “call”, “require”

• Stefan (chairs): Swedish variant of Stephen, in ancient Greek means “victorious”.

• Ivar (wardrobe, shelves): means “archer”

• Tobias (chairs): of Hebrew origin, its meaning is “God is good”

• Stig (stools): means “footprint”

• Franklin (stool): comes from an old English surname, used as a given name in homage to the famous American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin.

• Ingo (table): boy’s name, means “wolf”

• Fredde (workplace): means “peace”

• Sommar (rugs and textiles): means “summer”

Ikea-inspired girl names

• Norna (cushions): figure from Norse mythology

• Cilla (cushions): Dutch and Swedish diminutive of Cecilia.

• Malinda (cushions): feminine name, means “tender, sweet”.

• Elly (kitchen towels): short for Eileen, it means “light”.

• Glimma (candles): means “to shine, to shine”

• Henrika (cushion cover): feminine variant of Enrique meaning “master of the house or Head of the country”.

• Johanne : variant of Juana, of Hebrew origin that means “the faithful to God”.

• Mydal (litter): the word “dal” means “valley”.

More baby names:

• Strong and warriors: 51 Viking names for your baby that you will love
• 25 animal names you can give your baby
• 51 Italian names for your baby that will make you fall in love
• Looking for a name for your baby? 101 boy names to inspire you
• Looking for a name for your baby? 101 girl names to inspire you