Welcome to your Viking Naming CeremonyNaming was an important Viking rite. Before naming a child, children with defects or which the family could not afford to rear could be exposed to the elements. If it was decided to rear the child, then the baby was washed, dressed, and formally named. The giving of the name conferred upon the child the status of a member of the family and any rights of inheritance, and once the child had been named exposing it would be seen as murder. Naming was done by a practice called "ausa vatni". Protection was asked from the god Þórr as water was poured over the child's head. The child received gifts.
In actual Viking times, you first name would usually be the same as your most honoured deceased ancestor. According to the pagan view, in some mysterious a name way represented the spiritual and intellectual element of the individual for whom it stood. After death the soul went with the name, and the individual was restored to new life with the name being given again. The new-born child so named would with the name become endowed with the character and the personal qualities of the departed.On occasion adults were given a nickname in a formal ceremony, often if the new name signified some special event or feat of skill, or as an outsider that had achieved status within Viking society. Your naming will be more similar to this ceremony.To see your Viking Name, answer the questions below: