Kjell
Kjell Magne Bondevik, former prime minister of Norway
PronunciationSwedish: [ˈɕɛlː]
GenderMale
Language(s)Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish including variants
Name dayNorway (11 July)
Denmark; Sweden (8 July)
Finland (8 June)
Origin
Word/nameOld Norse ketill
MeaningKettle, cauldron or helmet
Region of originNorway; Sweden; Finland (Kjell)
Denmark (Kjeld)
Other names
Alternative spellingKjella (female)
Variant form(s)Kjeld, Keld, Kell, Kjell, Kield (Danish)
Related namesKeld, Ketil, Ketill, Kittel, Kittil, Kjeld, Kjetil, Kjetill
Popularitysee popular names

Kjell is a Scandinavian usually male given name. In Denmark, the cognate is Kjeld or Keld. The name comes from the Old Norse word kętill, which means "kettle" and probably also "helmet" or perhaps "cauldron". Examples of old spellings or forms are Ketill (Old Norse), Kjætil (Old Swedish) and Ketil (Old Danish).[1] An equally likely meaning is a source, a hope that the boy will get ample resources to draw upon later in life.

Kjell has a name day on July 11 in Norway and July 8 in Sweden, and in Denmark with the variant Kjeld.

Prevalence

In 2007, there were 59,011 men in Sweden with "Kjell" as their first name, making it the 42nd most common masculine name in Sweden.[2] In Swedish and Norwegian it is pronounced with the voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative [ɕ]. There were 30,809 men in Norway with "Kjell" as their first name. This makes it the 5th most common masculine name in Norway.[3] In Denmark, 8079 men were called "Kjeld" and 5491 "Keld".[4] In Finland, the number of men called Kjell in 2008 was 1405.[5]

The name began to be widely used in the 1600s when it took over from the older name form Kætil or Ketill, which were also precursors of the name Kjetil, and a loan from Latin catillus, which is the diminutive of catinus (= barrel, bowl). Kætil/Ketill was probably one of the most common male names in Old Norse times. In Landnámabók, it is the male name that occurs most often - even more frequently than the most widely used compositions with Tor-. There are 44 found runic inscriptions from the Viking era that contain the name Kætill, which is why it is the 13th most used male name in this material. Five of the inscriptions are found in Denmark and three in Norway, most others have unknown sites. The name was most often written with runes like ᚲᛖᛏᛁᛚ (ketil), ᚲᛁᛏᛁᛚ (kitil) or ᚲᚨᛏᛁᛚ (katil).[6]

In Denmark the name appears in many village (torp) names, so there are nearly 20 places named Kelstrup or Kjelstrup. However, the name does not appear in compositions with -lev, and it can only be explained that it was not used at the time when -lev names were formed. Consequently, we can date the period when Kætil/Ketill was used as a name, at the time between the end of the Migration Period and the beginning of the Viking Age. But the reason that the name gained such tremendous prevalence within a few centuries, we do not know.[7]

The name Kjell is known in Norway from the 1400s. In recent times, the name was widely used in the 1940s and 50s, but is now rarely used for newborn boys.

Historical development of the popularity of the name Kjell in Norway.[8][9]

In Sweden, the name was most popular in the 1940s.

Historical development of the popularity of the name Kjell in Sweden.[10][11][12]

Kjell is today a common name in Norway and Sweden, and Kjeld or Keld is common in Denmark.

The following table provides a detailed overview of the popularity of the male name Kjell and its variants in some of the countries where statistics are available.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

CountryVariantAmong the country's populationAmong newborns
NumberPercentRankingNumberPercentRanking
Norway[8]Kjell28,834 (2012)1%610 (2006)0.03%308
Sweden[10]Kjell33,420 (2010)0.7%32
Norway[8]Kjetil10,247 (2012)0.4%539 (2006)0.03%325
Denmark[21]Kjeld7,275 (2013)0.3%ca. 131
Denmark[21]Keld5,197 (2013)0.2%ca. 153
Norway[8]Ketil2,578 (2012)0.10%194
Germany[22]Kjell(2012)253
Finland[23]Kjell1,4510.05%ca. 272
Iceland[24]Ketill50 (2012)0.03%ca. 352
Denmark[21]Kell403 (2013)0.01%ca. 492
Netherlands[25]Kjeld22 (2012)0.02%591
Faroe Islands[26]Kjell6 (2006)0.01%670
Faroe Islands[26]Kjeld6 (2006)0.01%670
Denmark[21]Kjell197 (2013)0.007%ca. 683
Netherlands[25]Kjell18 (2012)0.02%695
Denmark[21]Ketil129 (2013)0.005%ca. 828

Name compositions

Kjell is found in many name compositions, both of the old date, written in one word, or in new ones, which are written in two words.

  • Female names: Kjellaug, Kjellrun, Kjellfrid, Audkjell, Kjella, Kjellbjørg
  • Male names: Torkel, Arnkjell, Askjell, Finnkjell, Grimkjell, Hallkjell, Kjellbjørn, Kjellfred, Torkjell
Newer: Kjell Inge, Kjell Magne, Kjell Einar osv.

Kjell is also present in at least one notable Swedish surname: Kjellberg.

People

A–F

G–M

N–Z

See also

References

  1. ↑ "View Name: Kjell". behindthename.com. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  2. ↑ Statistics Sweden website
  3. ↑ Statistics Norway website
  4. ↑ Statistics Denmark website
  5. ↑ Population Register Centre Archived 2010-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Nordiskt runnamnslexikon" [Nordic runic dictionary] (in Swedish). February 2002. Archived from the original on 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  7. ↑ Kristian Hald: Personnavne i Danmark – oldtiden (s. 63), Dansk historisk fællesforenings håndbøger, København 1974
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Navnestatistikk" [Name statistics] (in Norwegian). Statistics for names in Norway. Statistisk sentralbyrå.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ "Digitalarkivet" [Digital Archives] (in Norwegian). Census in Norway. Arkivverket. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. 1 2 "Namnsökning. Hur många heter...?" [Name search. How many are called...?] (in Swedish). Statistics for names in Sweden. Statistiska centralbyrån.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Namnstatistik Sverige" [Name statistics Sweden] (in Swedish). Statistics for names in Sweden. Allt för Föräldrar. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2018-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ Karin Norrman, Sven Norrman (1888). "Förteckning öfver svenska dopnamn upprättad af Karin och Sven Norrman tillika med en sydsvensk namnlista af A. L. Senell ock några jämförande anteckningar" [A list of Swedish baptismal given names prepared by Karin and Sven Norrman along with a Southern Swedish list of names by A. L. Senell and some comparative notes.] (in Swedish). Kongl. boktryckeriet P. A. Norstedt & söner. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  13. ↑ "Member Directory". Unofficial statistics based on Linkedin members. Replace the country code first in the link with the desired country. Linkedin.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ↑ "Danskernes Navne" [Danish names] (in Danish). Unofficial statistics based on the number of residents in Denmark. Københavns universitet (Copenhagen University). Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2018-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ↑ "Top 100 popular first names". Unofficial statistics. locatemyname.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ↑ "Meaning of names". Unofficial statistics. meaningofname.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. ↑ "Top Most Popular Baby Names". Unofficial statistics. top-most-popular-baby-names.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. ↑ "Students of the World - Statistics". Unofficial statistics. studentsoftheworld.info.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ↑ "Prénoms du monde" [First names of the world] (in French). Unofficial statistics. meilleursprenoms.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ↑ "Human name search engine and statistics". Unofficial statistics. nejms.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Navne" [Names] (in Danish). Statistics for names in Denmark. Danmarks Statistik.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ↑ "Vornamens-Hitlisten" [List of first names] (in German). Statistics for German first names. Knud Bielefeld. Archived from the original on 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2018-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. ↑ "Namntjänst" [Name services] (in Swedish). Statistics for names in Finland. Befolkningsregistercentralen. Archived from the original on 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2018-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ↑ "Nöfn í þjóðskrá" [Names in the National Register] (in Icelandic). Statistics for names in Iceland. Hagstofa Íslands.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  25. 1 2 "Kindernamen top 20" [Top 20 children's names] (in Dutch). Statistics for names in the Netherlands. Sociale Verzekeringsbank.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. 1 2 "Íbúgvaviðurskifti og val" [Population and choice] (in Faroese). Statistics for names in the Faroe Islands. Hagstova Føroya. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2018-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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