Shetland and Orkney Names: 38 Norse First Names Still Used Today

Shetland and Orkney names are the Norse first names Scotland kept when the rest of the country went Gaelic and Scots: Magnus, Erlend, Thorfinn, Rognvald, Ingrid, Inga, Freya and Sigrid among them. Only one of them, Magnus, has been in unbroken use in Orkney since the Viking Age, according to the UHI Institute for Northern Studies. The rest were revived in the last century or so, and a few, like Freya, are now among the most popular names in the whole of Scotland.

This is written for anyone with island roots, or a soft spot for the isles, who wants a name with a real Norse link rather than one lifted from a TV drama. Below you get the names islanders are giving their bairns (children) right now, the ones Orkney revived, the ones that only turn up in the sagas and at Up Helly Aa, how to say each one, and what the Norse elements actually mean.

A wee bit of context first. Orkney and Shetland were Norse for roughly 600 years, from the 9th century until they were pledged to Scotland in 1468 and 1469 as a dowry that was never paid off. The old language, Norn, was still spoken into the 1700s. That is why a Kirkwall birth notice can read like a page from the Orkneyinga Saga, and why a Lerwick squad of Vikings marching with torches every January does not look remotely odd to the locals.

Which Norse names are Shetland and Orkney parents still using?

Magnus, Freya and Sigrid. Those are the Norse names in the latest Orkney register, which Orkney Islands Council published on 24 December 2025 for births registered that year: 150 babies, Finlay or Finley the top boys’ name with 3, Hailey and Freya or Freyja joint top for girls with 3, and Magnus and Sigrid given to 2 babies each. For a council area of about 22,000 people, that is a cracking return for two names most of the UK would file under “Viking telly”.

Shetland is a harder read. National Records of Scotland only releases names given to three or more babies in a council area, and Shetland News reported that in 2025 only Leo (4), Lewis (3) and Sonny (3) cleared that bar, with no girls’ name used more than twice for the second year running. So Norse names are being given in Shetland, they just are not being given three times in one year. The 2024 Shetland list was James and Theo, so this is a small-numbers problem, not a Norse-names problem. Orkney had the same quiet patch in 2024, when Harry, Una and Zara led and The Orkney News noted that Norse names were having a lean year, before Magnus, Freya and Sigrid came back in 2025.

Scotland-wide, the headline is Freya. National Records of Scotland made it the most popular girls’ name in the country for 2025, with 268 babies, so the Norse goddess now outranks Isla and Olivia. Noah (318) led the boys.

Register	Norse names recorded	Count	Source
Orkney, 2025 births (to 24 December)	Freya or Freyja	3 (joint top girls’ name)	Orkney Islands Council registrar
Orkney, 2025 births (to 24 December)	Magnus	2	Orkney Islands Council registrar
Orkney, 2025 births (to 24 December)	Sigrid	2	Orkney Islands Council registrar
Orkney, 2024 births	Finn (boys’ list); no other Norse names	146 babies in total	National Records of Scotland via The Orkney News
Shetland, 2025 births	None at 3 or more babies	Leo 4, Lewis 3, Sonny 3	National Records of Scotland via Shetland News
Scotland, 2025 births	Freya	268 (1st for girls)	National Records of Scotland

How Norse names are built

Most Norse names are two building blocks bolted together, which is why they look long and sound short. Ragnhild Ljosland of the UHI Institute for Northern Studies sets out the common blocks, and once you know a dozen of them you can read almost any name on this page.

Element	Meaning	Names it appears in
Thor, Tor	the god Thor	Thorfinn, Thorvald, Thorstein, Thora, Toril
Sig	victory	Sigurd, Sigrid, Signy
Rogn, Ragn	counsel, or of the gods	Rognvald, Ragnhild
Gunn	battle, conflict	Gunnar, Gunnhild
Hall	stone, or hall	Halldis, Hallvard
Ing	another name of the god Frey	Ingrid, Inga
vald	ruler	Rognvald, Thorvald
vard (urd)	guardian	Sigurd, Hallvard
hild	battle	Ragnhild, Gunnhild, Geirhild
frid, rid	beautiful	Ingrid, Sigrid, Astrid
finn	Sámi	Thorfinn, Finn
stein	stone	Thorstein, Eystein
dis	goddess	Halldis

Good to know: Magnus is the odd one out. It is Latin, not Norse, meaning great. It arrived through King Magnus Olafsson of Norway in the 1030s who, the saga says, was named after Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus) by the skald Sigvat at a hasty baptism while his father was away, and it became the most Norse-feeling name in the isles anyway.

Shetland and Orkney boys’ names

Magnus

Meaning: great (Latin, via St Olaf’s son). Old Norse: Magnús. Say it: MAG-nus. Where: Orkney. Status: used in the isles today.

The name of the isles. St Magnus was murdered on Egilsay in about 1117 and his cathedral still dominates Kirkwall. UHI quotes Dr Berit Sandnes that Magnus is the only Norse forename passed down in Orkney without a break since Norse times, and islanders shorten it to Mansie. It travels well: Norway had 14,342 men called Magnus when UHI counted, and it sits comfortably in a Glasgow or Toronto classroom too.

Erlend

Meaning: foreign, from abroad. Old Norse: Erlendr. Say it: ER-lend. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: revived in Orkney.

Earl Erlend Thorfinnsson was Magnus’s father, which is why the two names turn up together in island families. Erlend is on UHI’s list of names revived in Orkney, and it is one of the easier saga names for an outsider to say: two syllables, stress on the first, nothing silent. The downside is that people will write Erland, and you will correct them for life.

Rognvald

Meaning: counsel of the gods + ruler. Old Norse: Rögnvaldr. Say it: ROG-n-vald. Where: Orkney. Status: revived in Orkney.

Rognvald Kali Kolsson founded St Magnus Cathedral in 1137 and was later made a saint himself. The name is hard going outside Scandinavia, which is why most Scots who carry it are called Ronald, the Scots form by way of Gaelic Raghnall. If you want the Norse spelling, Rognvald is a belter (as in a cracker) of a middle name. You can see the rest of the R names in our Scottish first names beginning with R.

Sigurd

Meaning: victory + guardian. Old Norse: Sigurðr. Say it: SIG-urd. Where: Orkney. Status: revived in Orkney.

The earls’ line opens with Sigurd Eysteinsson in the 870s and ends its great period with Sigurd Hlodvirsson at Clontarf in 1014, so it bookends the whole Norse story in Orkney. The full list of earls has three Sigurds in it. Revived in Orkney, per UHI.

Thorfinn

Meaning: Thor + Finn (Sámi). Old Norse: Þorfinnr. Say it: THOR-fin. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: revived in Orkney.

Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Thorfinn the Mighty, ruled Orkney for about 40 years until around 1064 and built the first cathedral at Birsay. Thorfinn is also on UHI’s revived list. If the full name feels like a lot for a peedie (that is Orcadian for small) baby, Finn on its own is the obvious fallback, and the Scottish T names page has the related Torquil.

Hakon

Meaning: high + son or descendant. Old Norse: Hákon. Say it: HAW-kon. Where: Orkney. Status: revived in Orkney.

Earl Hakon Paulsson had Magnus killed, went on pilgrimage to make amends, and ended up ruling well. Spelled Haakon or Håkon in Norway, where it is a royal name. Say HAW-kon, not HACK-on. Revived in Orkney, per UHI.

Sweyn

Meaning: boy, young man. Old Norse: Sveinn. Say it: SVAYN. Where: Orkney. Status: revived in Orkney.

Sweyn Asleifsson of Gairsay, who raided from an Orkney farmhouse until he was killed at Dublin in 1171, is the last great Viking in the saga. Sweyn means boy or young man, so it is a name that grows up with its owner. Sven is the everyday Scandinavian form; Sweyn is the spelling with the Orkney link.

Harald

Meaning: army + ruler. Old Norse: Haraldr. Say it: HA-rald. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: saga and festival name.

Harald Maddadsson ruled Orkney for about 65 years, from 1139 to 1206, and the 2024 Lerwick Guizer Jarl marched as Harald Olafsson. The Gaelic form is Harailt, which has its own entry in our Scottish first names beginning with H. Harald is simple to say and spell, which makes it the safest pick on this list after Magnus.

Torquil

Meaning: Thor’s cauldron. Old Norse: Þorkell. Say it: TOR-kwil. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: saga and festival name.

This one is the isles’ Norse-Gaelic crossover in a single name. Thorkell was Norse, the MacLeods of Lewis made it Torquil, and it has lived in the Hebrides ever since. It fits here because the Northern Isles and the Western Isles shared the same Norse earls for a long stretch. The Gaelic names list linked further down has the other side of that story.

Shetland and Orkney girls’ names

Freya

Meaning: the goddess Freyja, sister of Frey. Old Norse: Freyja. Say it: FRAY-ah. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: used in the isles today.

The goddess of love and war, and now the top girls’ name in Scotland (268 babies in 2025) and joint top in Orkney in 2025, as it was in 2022, with the saga spelling Freyja used as well. If you want Norse without a single pronunciation conversation, this is it. The trade-off is that there will be three in the class.

Sigrid

Meaning: victory + beautiful. Old Norse: Sigríðr. Say it: SIG-rid. Where: Orkney. Status: used in the isles today.

Two Orkney babies were named Sigrid in 2025, which puts it level with Ava and Eilidh in the islands. Victory plus beautiful. Siri is the short form, with the obvious modern problem that your phone will answer.

Ingrid

Meaning: Ing (the god Frey) + beautiful. Old Norse: Ingiríðr. Say it: ING-rid. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: revived in Orkney.

Ing was another name for the god Frey, so Ingrid means something like beautiful Ing, or beautiful goddess. It is the Norse girls’ name you are most likely to meet across Scotland, it is on UHI’s revived list for Orkney, and it needs no help with spelling. More in our Scottish first names beginning with I.

Inga

Meaning: short form of the Ing- names. Old Norse: Inga. Say it: ING-ah. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: revived in Orkney.

The short, isles form of the Ing names, and a traditional Shetland and Orkney name that older islanders will recognise straight away. UHI lists it among the Orkney revivals. Two syllables, impossible to get wrong.

Thora

Meaning: feminine of Thor. Old Norse: Þóra. Say it: THOR-ah. Where: Shetland. Status: saga and festival name.

Earl Erlend’s wife was Thora, which makes her St Magnus’s mother. It is simply the feminine of Thor. Rarely given now, which is odd given how easy it is, and a fair candidate for the next isles revival.

Astrid

Meaning: god + beautiful. Old Norse: Ástríðr. Say it: AS-trid. Where: Orkney and Shetland. Status: saga and festival name.

God plus beautiful. Astrid does not show in the recent Orkney or Shetland registers, but it is a steady Scotland-wide choice for parents who like Ingrid and want something less common. Astrid Lindgren did the name no harm either.

Ragnhild

Meaning: counsel of the gods + battle. Old Norse: Ragnhildr. Say it: RAG-n-hild. Where: Orkney. Status: saga and festival name.

Ragnhild Eiriksdottir, daughter of Eric Bloodaxe, married three Orkney earls in succession and, according to the saga, arranged the deaths of at least two of them. The name means counsel of the gods plus battle, which checks out. Ragna is the short form. It is on the rare end of this list, and sits well with our rare Scottish names you have never heard of.

Solveig

Meaning: house or home + strength (uncertain). Old Norse: Sölveig. Say it: SOL-vay. Where: Orkney. Status: revived in Orkney.

Say SOL-vay; the g is silent. UHI gives the meaning as uncertain, possibly house or home plus strength. It feels Norwegian rather than Orcadian to most ears, but it is on the UHI list of names revived in Orkney, and it is lovely said out loud.

Geirhild

Meaning: spear + battle. Old Norse: Geirhildr. Say it: GAYR-hild. Where: Shetland. Status: saga and festival name.

Geirhildr was the daughter of Hrafna-Floki, the Viking who used Shetland as a base before settling Iceland. She drowned in the loch at Girlsta, and the Shetland village still carries her name. Spear plus battle. Nobody is handing this one out at the registry office, but as a Shetland heritage middle name it has a story no other name on this page can match.

The Up Helly Aa names

Every January the Lerwick Guizer Jarl takes the name of a Norse figure for the year, so Up Helly Aa doubles as a rolling list of saga names in public use. The recent jarls and their characters are a good hunting ground if you want something nobody else has picked.

Year	Guizer Jarl	Norse character
2015	Neil Robertson	Olav Haraldsson
2016	Mark Evans	Solmund Sigurdsson
2017	Lyall Gair	Sweyn Forkbeard Haraldsson
2018	Stewart Jamieson	Thorvald Thorvaldsson
2019	John Nicolson	Thorstein Egilsson
2020	Liam Summers	Odin
2023	Neil Moncrieff	Njal Thorgeirsson
2024	Richard Moar	Harald Olafsson
2025	Calum Grains	Eystein Magnusson
2026	Lynden Nicolson	Knut the Great

Notice the surnames in that table: Nicolson, Jamieson, Robertson. Shetland’s own surnames are patronymics frozen in the Scots fashion, and the Norse habit of son-of names sits right underneath them. Everyone who has ever tried to trace a Shetland family tree has hit a wall of Magnus Magnussons and given up for the evening; you are in good company.

The earls of Orkney: 350 years of Norse names in one family

From Sigurd Eysteinsson in the 870s to Jon Haraldsson, who died in 1231, the Norse earls give you the complete working set of island names. The list of 26 earls includes three Sigurds, three Thorfinns, three Haralds, two Rognvalds, two Erlends, two Pauls, two Einars, Magnus, Hakon, Brusi, Ljot, Hlodvir, Havard, Arnfinn, Arnkel, Sumarlidi, Guthorm, Hallad, David and Jon. Sumarlidi, by the way, is the same name as Somerled, founder of the Lords of the Isles, which tells you how far these names travelled.

1. Easiest for a modern child: Magnus, Harald, Erlend, Einar, David, Jon.
2. Middle-name material: Thorfinn, Rognvald, Sigurd, Hakon, Sweyn.
3. Best left in the saga: Hlodvir, Arnkel, Hallad, Guthorm. Admire them, do not inflict them.

How to choose a Shetland or Orkney name

Work out which of three jobs you want the name to do, because they pull in different directions.

1. You want island credibility without daily explaining. Pick Magnus, Freya, Ingrid, Harald or Erlend. All five are said the way they are spelled by an English speaker, and all five are in real use.
2. You want the saga link to be obvious. Go for Thorfinn, Rognvald, Sigurd, Sweyn, Thora or Ragnhild. Expect to spell it on the phone every time, and expect a few people to ask if it is from a video game. It is not. It is from a 12th-century Icelandic manuscript, which is a far better answer.
3. You want something nobody else has. Geirhild, Halldis, Toril, Eystein or Njal. These are heritage picks: strong as middle names, brave as first names.

If the full Norse spelling is too much for a first name, the fallback is simple: use the short or Scots form up front and the saga name in the middle. Finn Thorfinn, Ronald Rognvald, Siri Sigrid. The child gets a name they can use in a job interview and a name that explains where the family is from.

Quick list: all 38 Shetland and Orkney Norse names

Name	Old Norse	Meaning	Say it	For	Where	Status
Astrid	Ástríðr	god + beautiful	AS-trid	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Dagny	Dagný	day + new	DAG-nee	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Einar	Einarr	lone warrior	EYE-nar	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Erik	Eiríkr	ever ruler	ER-ik	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Erlend	Erlendr	foreign, from abroad	ER-lend	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Revived in Orkney
Eystein	Eysteinn	island or luck + stone	AY-stayn	Boy	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Finn	Finnr	Sámi, or wanderer	FIN	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Used in the isles today
Freya	Freyja	the goddess Freyja, sister of Frey	FRAY-ah	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Used in the isles today
Geirhild	Geirhildr	spear + battle	GAYR-hild	Girl	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Gudrun	Guðrún	god + secret lore	GOOD-roon	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Gunnar	Gunnarr	battle + warrior	GUN-nar	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Gunnhild	Gunnhildr	battle + battle	GUN-hild	Girl	Orkney	Saga and festival name
Hakon	Hákon	high + son or descendant	HAW-kon	Boy	Orkney	Revived in Orkney
Halldis	Halldís	stone + goddess	HAL-dis	Girl	Orkney	Saga and festival name
Harald	Haraldr	army + ruler	HA-rald	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Helga	Helga	holy, blessed	HEL-ga	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Inga	Inga	short form of the Ing- names	ING-ah	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Revived in Orkney
Ingrid	Ingiríðr	Ing (the god Frey) + beautiful	ING-rid	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Revived in Orkney
Ivar	Ívarr	yew or bow + warrior	EE-var	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Knut	Knútr	knot	k-NOOT	Boy	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Leif	Leifr	heir, descendant	LAYF	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Liv	Hlíf	protection (later read as life)	LEEV	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Magnus	Magnús	great (Latin, via St Olaf’s son)	MAG-nus	Boy	Orkney	Used in the isles today
Njal	Njáll	Norse borrowing of Irish Niall	NYAL	Boy	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Ola	Óláfr	ancestor + descendant	OH-la	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Revived in Orkney
Ragnhild	Ragnhildr	counsel of the gods + battle	RAG-n-hild	Girl	Orkney	Saga and festival name
Rognvald	Rögnvaldr	counsel of the gods + ruler	ROG-n-vald	Boy	Orkney	Revived in Orkney
Signy	Signý	victory + new	SIG-nee	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Sigrid	Sigríðr	victory + beautiful	SIG-rid	Girl	Orkney	Used in the isles today
Sigurd	Sigurðr	victory + guardian	SIG-urd	Boy	Orkney	Revived in Orkney
Solveig	Sölveig	house or home + strength (uncertain)	SOL-vay	Girl	Orkney	Revived in Orkney
Sweyn	Sveinn	boy, young man	SVAYN	Boy	Orkney	Revived in Orkney
Thora	Þóra	feminine of Thor	THOR-ah	Girl	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Thorfinn	Þorfinnr	Thor + Finn (Sámi)	THOR-fin	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Revived in Orkney
Thorstein	Þorsteinn	Thor + stone	THOR-stayn	Boy	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Thorvald	Þorvaldr	Thor + ruler	THOR-vald	Boy	Shetland	Saga and festival name
Toril	Þórhildr	Thor + battle	TOR-il	Girl	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name
Torquil	Þorkell	Thor’s cauldron	TOR-kwil	Boy	Orkney and Shetland	Saga and festival name

FAQ about Shetland and Orkney names

What are traditional Shetland names?

Traditional Shetland first names mix Norse survivals such as Magnus, Inga, Thora and Erlend with Scots names that arrived after 1469. Many Shetland surnames, Nicolson, Jamieson and Robertson among them, are patronymics, a habit the islands kept from their Norse centuries. Up Helly Aa keeps the saga names in public use every January.

What are traditional Orkney names?

Magnus is the defining Orkney name and the only Norse first name used there without a break since the Viking Age, according to the UHI Institute for Northern Studies. Erlend, Thorfinn, Rognvald, Sigurd, Hakon, Ingrid, Inga, Freya and Sweyn were revived later. Freya, Magnus and Sigrid all appear in Orkney’s 2025 birth register.

Is Magnus a Scottish name?

Yes, by long use. The word is Latin, meaning great, and it reached Scotland through the Norwegian kings and the Orkney earls, above all St Magnus of Orkney, who died in about 1117. It has been given in Orkney ever since and is used across Scotland today. Mansie is the Orkney nickname.

Are Shetland names Scottish or Norwegian?

Both, in layers. Shetland was Norse from the 9th century until 1469 and spoke Norn into the 1700s, so its oldest names are Norse. Scots names arrived with Scottish rule and now dominate the registers: the 2025 Shetland list was Leo, Lewis and Sonny. The Norse names survive as heritage choices, middle names and festival names.

How do you pronounce Rognvald, Thorfinn and Solveig?

Rognvald is ROG-n-vald, with the g sounded and the stress on the first syllable. Thorfinn is THOR-fin, as it looks. Solveig is SOL-vay, with the g silent. For every name on this page the stress falls on the first syllable, which is the one rule that gets you most of the way with Norse names.

Final thoughts on Shetland and Orkney names

If you take one name away from this page, make it Magnus: 900 years of unbroken island use, easy to say anywhere, and a cathedral to show the child when they are old enough to ask. If you take two, add Freya or Sigrid for a girl, because the Orkney register says islanders are already doing exactly that.

For the surname half of the Norse story, the Scottish Norse last names guide linked at the top covers the Shetland and Orkney patronymics and the Viking roots of names like Gunn and MacLeod. And if the isles themselves are calling, our round-up of the best Scottish islands to visit covers how to get to both.

Sources

• Ragnhild Ljosland, Delving into the roots of Norse first names, UHI Institute for Northern Studies
• Orkney Islands Council, Most popular baby names revealed, 24 December 2025 (2025 registrations)
• The Orkney News, Harry, Una, Zara top names for Orkney’s babies in 2024, January 2025
• Shetland News, Leo the most used baby name in Shetland in 2025, May 2026
• National Records of Scotland, Babies’ First Names 2025, published May 2026
• Earl of Orkney, list of Norse earls
• List of Lerwick Up Helly Aa Guizer Jarls
• Shetland.org, What’s in a Shetland name (Girlsta and Geirhildr)