Kjell Explained

Kjell
Pronunciation:in Swedish ˈɕɛlː/
Gender:Male
Meaning:Kettle, cauldron or helmet
Region:Norway; Sweden; Finland (Kjell)
Denmark (Kjeld)
Language:Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish including variants
Origin:Old Norse ketill
Alternative Spelling:Kjella (female)
Variant Forms:Kjeld, Keld, Kell, Kjell, Kield (Danish)
Related Names:Keld, Ketil, Ketill, Kittel, Kittil, Kjeld, Kjetil, Kjetill
Name Day:Norway (11 July)
Denmark; Sweden (8 July)
Finland (8 June)
Popularity:In Norway (2012)
Kjell: 29223 men; ranked #6
Kjeld: <200 men

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.

ImageSize = width:auto height:150 barincrement:27PlotArea = left:90 bottom:20 top:10 right:10AlignBars = lateDateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1 till:51TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverseScaleMajor = unit:year increment:49 start:1Colors = id:navn value:green legend:KjellPlotData= color:navn width:20 bar:1700 from:end till:end shift:(-80,20) text:Ranking bar:1750 from:end till:end bar:1800 from:end till:end bar:1850 from:end till:end bar:_ from:end till:end bar:1875 from:end till:end bar:1885 from:end till:end bar:1895 from:end till:end bar:1905 from:end till:end bar:1915 from:end till:end bar:1925 from:18 till:end bar:1935 from:2 till:end bar:1945 from:3 till:end bar:1955 from:4 till:end bar:1965 from:13 till:end bar:1975 from:33 till:end bar:1985 from:end till:end bar:1995 from:end till:end bar:2005 from:end till:end
align=center Historical development of the popularity of the name Kjell in Norway.[8] [9]

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

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align=center 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]

Country Variant Among the country's population Among newborns
Number Percent Ranking Number Percent Ranking
Kjell (2012) % 6 (2006) % 308
Kjell (2010) % 32
Kjetil (2012) % 53 (2006) % 325
Denmark[21] Kjeld (2013) % ca. 131
Keld (2013) % ca. 153
Ketil (2012) % 194
Germany[22] Kjell (2012) 253
Finland[23] Kjell % ca. 272
Iceland[24] Ketill (2012) % ca. 352
Kell (2013) % ca. 492
Netherlands[25] Kjeld (2012) % 591
Faroe Islands[26] Kjell (2006) % 670
Kjeld (2006) % 670
Kjell (2013) % ca. 683
Kjell (2012) % 695
Ketil (2013) % 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.

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: View Name: Kjell. behindthename.com. 19 December 2007.
  2. http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____31057.aspx Statistics Sweden website
  3. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/navn/ Statistics Norway website
  4. http://www.dst.dk/Statistik/Navne/HvorMange.aspx Statistics Denmark website
  5. http://192.49.222.187/Nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=3 Population Register Centre
  6. Web site: Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. February 2002. Swedish. Nordic runic dictionary. 2018-11-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20110225031159/http://www.sofi.se/servlet/GetDoc?meta_id=1472. 2011-02-25.
  7. Kristian Hald: Personnavne i Danmark – oldtiden (s. 63), Dansk historisk fællesforenings håndbøger, København 1974
  8. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå. Navnestatistikk. Norwegian. Name statistics. Statistics for names in Norway.
  9. Web site: Arkivverket. Digitalarkivet. Norwegian. Digital Archives. Census in Norway. https://web.archive.org/web/20071027071824/http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/. 2007-10-27.
  10. Web site: Statistiska centralbyrån. Namnsökning. Hur många heter...?. Swedish. Name search. How many are called...?. Statistics for names in Sweden.
  11. Web site: Allt för Föräldrar. Namnstatistik Sverige. Swedish. Name statistics Sweden. Statistics for names in Sweden. 2018-11-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20120213164112/http://svenskanamn.alltforforaldrar.se/statistik/sverige. 2012-02-13. dead.
  12. Web site: Karin Norrman, Sven Norrman. Förteckning öfver svenska dopnamn upprättad af Karin och Sven Norrman tillika med en sydsvensk namnlista af A. L. Senell ock några jämförande anteckningar.. Swedish. 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.. Kongl. boktryckeriet P. A. Norstedt & söner. 1888. 2015-03-25.
  13. Web site: Linkedin. Member Directory. Unofficial statistics based on Linkedin members. Replace the country code first in the link with the desired country..
  14. Web site: Københavns universitet (Copenhagen University). Danskernes Navne. Danish. Danish names. Unofficial statistics based on the number of residents in Denmark.. 2018-11-28. 2013-12-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100321/http://www.danskernesnavne.navneforskning.ku.dk/Personnavne.asp. dead.
  15. Web site: locatemyname.com. Top 100 popular first names. Unofficial statistics..
  16. Web site: meaningofname.org. Meaning of names. Unofficial statistics..
  17. Web site: top-most-popular-baby-names.com. Top Most Popular Baby Names. Unofficial statistics..
  18. Web site: studentsoftheworld.info. Students of the World - Statistics. Unofficial statistics..
  19. Web site: meilleursprenoms.com. Prénoms du monde. French. First names of the world. Unofficial statistics..
  20. Web site: nejms.com. Human name search engine and statistics. Unofficial statistics..
  21. Web site: Danmarks Statistik. Navne. Danish. Names. Statistics for names in Denmark.
  22. Web site: Knud Bielefeld. Vornamens-Hitlisten. German. List of first names. Statistics for German first names. 2018-11-28. 2008-02-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20080221190159/http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/beliebte.htm. dead.
  23. Web site: Befolkningsregistercentralen. Namntjänst. Swedish. Name services. Statistics for names in Finland. 2018-11-28. https://archive.today/20061009014117/http://192.49.222.187/Nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=2. 2006-10-09. dead.
  24. Web site: Hagstofa Íslands. Nöfn í þjóðskrá. Icelandic. Names in the National Register. Statistics for names in Iceland.
  25. Web site: Sociale Verzekeringsbank. Kindernamen top 20. Dutch. Top 20 children's names. Statistics for names in the Netherlands.
  26. Web site: Hagstova Føroya. Íbúgvaviðurskifti og val. Faroese. Population and choice. Statistics for names in the Faroe Islands. 2018-11-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20131113143448/http://www.hagstova.fo/portal/page/portal/HAGSTOVAN/Hagstova_Foroya/Hagtalsgrunnur/ibugvav_val. 2013-11-13. dead.

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