Norwegian couple Tor-Eric and Eirin Iversen, big fans of Liverpool F.C. (the English soccer team), welcomed a baby girl back in 2010 and named her Karoline Ynwa.
The middle name Ynwa is an acronym that stands for “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — the song that was adopted as Liverpool’s anthem in the 1960s. It originally comes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (1945).
Tor-Eric and Eirin weren’t sure about the name Ynwa (which they pronounce “yee-nwa”) at first, but it grew on them over time. Before Ynwa they’d considered the name Gerrard (for Steven Gerrard) but decided that Gerrard wouldn’t work well for a girl.
Pål Christian Møller, head of Liverpool FC Supporters Club Norway, says the Liverpool-inspired baby name he sees most often is simply “Liverpool.” (He said if he could give himself another name, he’d add Oliver and become “O Liverpål.”) Another acronym-based Liverpool name he’s seen is Tia, which stands for “this is Anfield.” Anfield is the stadium at which Liverpool F.C. has been playing since the 1890s.
Now that news of a child named Ynwa has surfaced, do you think Liverpool fans in England will start using the name? And, if so, do you think Ynwa will ever reach the minimum usage requirement of 3 babies per year to be included on a future England and Wales baby name list?
Sources: Ynwa (4) fikk ikke velge favorittlag selv, Liverpool FC fans from Norway name their daughter YNWA (discovered originally via Clare’s Name News)
P.S. Other modern-day acronym baby names include Ily, Ilys & Ktyal. I’ve also heard rumors that the baby name Yolo now exists, but I have yet to see proof of this.
