TV’s Michael Scott mangled this one in an unforgettable fashion a few weeks ago.
Thanks to Allison for suggesting Astrid as Name of the Day.
If you follow NBC’s The Office, you probably know all about Michael Scott’s not-baby with his former boss, Jan Levinson. If you don’t, here’s a rough sketch: bumbling boss Michael informed his team a) they needed to throw his ex-girlfriend a baby shower; b) if the baby was a girl, she’d be called Astird.
That’s his typo, not mine, and they even put it on the customized M&Ms.
Not only did The Office drones get the spelling wrong, they also flubbed the meaning. Michael insisted Astird Astrid means Viking princess.
Not so much.
And yet Astrid is undeniably Scandinavian, and with a regal vibe, too.
Astrid evolved from the Old Norse Ástrídr – the first bit means god; the second, beauty, so you’ll usually see the meaning “divine beauty” attached. That’s almost as good as Viking princess. Variant spellings over the years include Æstriðr, Ástríðr, Estrid, Estrith and Astrith.
Royal Astrids include:
- The tenth century Astrid of the Obotrites, Queen consort of Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden;
- Astrid Svendsdatter was a Danish princess from the same era. Her son went on to become King Sweyn II of Denmark. She later married Robert, Duke of Normandy – making her stepmom to William the Conqueror;
- Astrid of Sweden, born in 1905, became Queen of Belgium when she married monarch Leopold III. She was wildly popular, and her tragic death in a car accident at a young age added to her mystique;
- Princess Astrid of Belgium was Queen Astrid’s granddaughter. Born in 1962, she’s now the Archduchess of Austria-Este;
- Princess Astrid of Norway, born in 1932, spent more than a decade serving as official hostess for her father, the King, after her mother’s passing. But this royal married a commoner, and is better known as Mrs. Ferner.
You’ll notice that there are a few centuries without Astrids. Just like the Victorians revived literary, historical and mythological monikers in the 19th century, Astrid experienced a resurgence in Scandinavia. She remains popular today, ranking in the Top 50 in Denmark and Sweden, and coming in at #63 in Norway as of 2007.
The name is also heard in Belgium, thanks to the royal link, and English. In the US, Astrid has very occasionally ranked in the US Top 1000. Her last appearance was in 2005.
Modern Astrids include:
- Venezuelan telenovela actress Astrid Carolina Herrera Irrazábal;
- Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto. You might not recognize her name, but you know her voice – she’s the haunting voice in “The Girl from Ipanema”;
- Astrid Kirchherr met Stuart Sutcliffe back when the Beatles were an undiscovered bar band playing Hamburg. Her photographs of them remain favorites;
- Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren penned the Pippi Longstocking series. Pippi is the fiercely independent, improbably strong and surprisingly sensible daughter of a sea captain, best known for her red braids. (And she claims that Pippi is a nickname for Pippilotta.)
If you’re looking for a frills-free Scandinavian name that’s nicely underused, Astrid is certainly one to consider.
My name is Astrid & honestly no matter how common your name kids are going to find a way to tease. I adore my name & always get complimented on how unique it is. & the definition is quiet adorable meaning divine beauty 🙂
My name is Astrid. I LOVE my name. Yes, I definitely did get Ash-tray, Ostrich, Asteroid, etc. But it was all in good fun and I took it well. It was only weird when people would call out to me and unnoticingly cut off my name to “ass”. I do think the name kind of has an effect on the kind of person you’ll be. Thank God I never got Ass-turd!
My name is Astrid! I love my name! But please, only name your child this if you’re willing to be a supportive parent when the name-calling starts. I was often called ostrich, asteroid, astro (like the dog on the Jetsons), but the worst was definitely ass-turd. I wonder if any of my former tormentors are writers on The Office? 🙂
Thanks, Astrid! It’s always good to hear from someone who loves wearing a name.
My name is Astrid, and the weird thing is I’ve never been teased once about my name…
I knew to ladies of this name!
One is actress in Latino America-Venezuela, her name is Astrid Carolina Herrera and the second name is Astrid Lindgren she was Swedish writer! But this name mean Star in the sky, something beatifull!
my name’s astrid. but my frens like to call me asstrid and ostich and austronaut……………:(
Woah. Thank goodness we don’t the American The Office here (at least as far as I know). I hate it when television shows/books/whatever turns people off perfectly lovely names. Just like this dumb internet video I came across once where some bloke appointed himself ‘Name Sheriff’ of his town and went around ‘charging’ people for their crimes- even a sweet little Julian wasn’t safe, as the guy proclaimed it poncy and pretentious and verbally reprimanded his parents. Luckily they took it in good humour, but several others didn’t, and quite rightly!
Anyway, I’ve rambled on quite enough. Astrid is a very pretty name, and that’s just about as much as I can come up with. Must be feeling quite uninspired tonight!
I was thinking we could call it an “astirdization.”
Abby, I see your dilemma on applying these terms to personal names. It’s almost like saying calling someone named Lucas “Mucas” is a pun, which it isn’t quite.
SophieGray and Verity – you should definitely read White Oleander. The movie was very good, but the novel was eons better.
The Astird Effect has a better ring to it, don’t you think? 😉
Abby/photoquilty — Now you guys have got me curious. I’ve spent the last half hour trying to figure out exactly what “Astird” would be linguistically. I can’t come up with anything that quite fits. It’s almost a malapropism — it meets the criteria of a malapropism, but it seems a little more than that. And it’s not quite a spoonerism because that requires that the transposition be made between two words and not within a word.
The humor is formed by metathesis (the reversal of adjacent phonemes within a word). But I can’t find any term for a humorous metathesis (whether intentional or unintentional). Perhaps we should coin one?
Emmy Jo, it is making me crazy, too! I keep returning to the issue.
The thing is, I’m not certain that any of these terms would apply to a personal name anyhow. (I can’t see why they wouldn’t – but I’ve never heard them used in that context.)
I’ve heard dysappellatia and I’ve used disappellatia – but that could apply to anything. To being named Keri when you grow up to be more of a Gertrude, or Jane when you *should* be Seraphine …
I’m at a loss as to what to call it, but I’ll mention it in Sunday’s summary and maybe we’ll get a good answer.
Sadly, the best thing I can come up with at the moment? The Astrid Effect.
I love Astrid. It’s so pretty to me, and it makes me think of stars and flowers (likely because of its similarity to Aster).
I had realized the a** potential before, but until the episode of The Office, I had never thought of the second part being turned around to “turd.” How unfortunate! I’m afraid this name has been ruined — maybe not forever, but at least for the next few years, as long as people are following the show.
Perhaps Astrith is one we should revive.