Via the Swedish Tax Agency, anyone can change both their first and last name, and several of our Swedish celebrities have taken this very opportunity. News24 lists some well-known profiles that scrapped their names and took a new one.
Felix Herngren’s name was Tobias HerngrenFelix Herngren. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT
The actor and the director Felix Herngren got the name Tobias when he was born – a name he realized at age seven meant “God is good” in Latin and didn’t want to be called because he wasn’t religious.
– I was a very staunch atheist as a child and felt that “this does not feel good at all”, he has previously said in TV4’s “Renée’s Bridge”.
He therefore took the name Felix as his first name and now goes by Tobias as a middle name.
Mauri Hermundsson’s name was Victor Hermundsson
Another celebrity who changed his name at an early age was the YouTube star Mauri Hermundsson. He was called before Victor in his first name, but chose to take the first name Mauri when he was seven years old.
– There was a guy in my village who was a few years older who was so good at soccer, he could shoot the ball high into the air. For some reason I felt that I wanted to be called like him, he has told Aftonbladet.
Mauri Hermundsson on the right. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
However, the name change was not well received by the parents.
– They said “excuse me?!”. Then I refused to listen when they said Victor and only answered if they used Mauri. After a few weeks they gave up. My father had also dreamed of my name Mauritz the day before i was born. So they felt that it was okay, he has said the newspaper.
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Happy Jankell’s name was Betty Jankell
It wasn’t until the actor Happy Jankell was 25 years old that she actually got the name Happy for real. Before that, her name was Betty in first name.
– My sisters name is Félice which means happiness in Spanish and when I arrived, my mother wanted me to be called Happy but then there were so many people who said that it would never work, that it would not be approved. In addition, they were on hold because you have to enter a name after a certain number of weeks and then it became Betty, Happy told Hänt.
Happy Jankell. Photo: Carl-Olof Zimmerman/TT
And not being named Happy in the passport was somewhat embarrassing, according to the actor.
– My mother told me all my growing up that “I’m going to change so that you can be called Happy for real”. Because it feels so silly and I’ve always thought it’s so hard to introduce myself and people say “is your real name Happy?” and then it feels embarrassing to say no. It’s like I want a stage name, she has said Happened.
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Dolph Lundgren’s name was Hans LundgrenDolph Lundgren. Photo: Andy Kropa/AP/TT
The Hollywood actor Dolph Lundgren got the name His when he was born, but later chose to take the name Dolph as his first name. The inspiration for the name Dolph comes from a relative by name Rudolph on his mother’s side, which Nyheter24 previously reported on.
Sandra Beijer’s name was Alexandra Körlof
The same year as the blogger and author Sandra Beijer would turn 18, she said goodbye to her first name Alexandra in favor of the name Sandra.
“Actually, I was going to be named Sandra, but my grandmother didn’t think it was a ‘real’ name. So then it became Alexandra. Very unnecessary, because no one ever called me that,” she has written in her blog before.
Sandra Beijer. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
She then took the opportunity to change her surname as well and took her mother’s surname.
“Hot Driving leave in the last name before, but no one could pronounce it (pronounced Sherlock with an F),” she wrote in the blog.