At 23:31 13/06/2004, Henrik Martensson wrote:
>On Fri, 2004-06-11 at 13:02, John Cowan wrote:
> > Henrik Martensson scripsit:
> >
> > > It should also figure out that since I am Swedish, it is
> > > likely that I do not want to be called by my first name, but by my
> > > middle one.
> >
> > Interesting. This is really true in general? How did it come to be so?
>
>I have no idea. I was just born into it. :-)
>
>Seriously, there are exceptions of course, but in general, in Sweden,
>the middle name is the first one, and vice versa. (Now I feel
>confused...)
This is certainly off-topic for the list but...
This middle-name-first thing supposedly common in Sweden is, as far as I
can determine, a fairly rare occurence. I did some quick reasearch and
found hardly anyone--except Henrik--among my immediate friends and family
where this held true. A quick look on the Net indicated the same among
Swedish celebrities and notables, as does the habit of various Swedish
authorities and organizations to simply pick the first (as in "first", not
as in "middle") name when in doubt and without sufficient space to print
all names...
Sorry for the interruption. Carry on, please.
/Ari T Nordström (who was born in Finland but now lives in Sweden)
