Tove Explained

Tove is a Scandinavian given name that derives from the Old Norse name Tófa. The name is usually given to girls but occasionally to boys.^[1] It is also an alternative English spelling of the Hebrew name more commonly spelled Tovah or Tova.

Origins

Some believe the name to be a shortening of Thorfrithr, "beautiful Thor" or "peace of Thor".^{[2] [3] [4]} 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^[5] and later in the Domesday Book^[6] in their Latinised form. The personal name became a surname in medieval England, with spellings of Tovi, Tovie^[7] (16th century) and Tovey recorded in wills and church documents.

Notable women

• Tove of the Obotrites, 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, Finnish artist and author
• Tove Lindbo Larsen, Danish politician
• Tove Lo, Swedish singer
• Tove Maës, Danish actress
• Tove Nilsen, Norwegian writer
• Tove Nielsen (politician), Danish politician
• Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (1940-2023), Finnish linguist and educator
• Tove Styrke, Swedish singer
• Birte Tove (1945–2016), Danish actress and nude model

Notable men

• Tove (sculptor), 12th-century Scanian sculptor
• Tove Christensen, 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 of Arnold Schoenberg
• a fictional, slithy creature created by Lewis Carroll that appears in his poem Jabberwocky

See also

• High Tove, a mountain in the English Lake District
• River Tove, tributary of the Great Ouse in England
• TOVE Project, an ontology for modelling enterprises
• Tove (film), a 2020 biopic about Tove Jansson

• Tova (disambiguation)

Notes and References

1. nordicnames.de: Tove
2. names-meanings.net: Tove, Tofa
3. behindthename.com: Tove, Thorfrithr
4. Teresa Norman, "Tova." A World of Baby Names. New York: Penguin, 2003. 504. (Note that "Tove" is listed as a cognate.)
5. Book: Williams, Ann. The World Before Domesday: The English Aristocracy 871-1066.. Bloomsbury. 2008. 28, 29.
6. Web site: The Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE). 5 September 2019. PASE.
7. Web site: Will of William Tovie of Norton Saint Philip, Somerset. The National Archives.