My son is in high school and is going to be an exchange student in Sweden next year.

Our family background is Swedish. His first name is a typical American name, but his middle name is Swedish, and our last name is Swedish.

For example, John Sture Andersson.

Nobody calls him Sture in the US; people can’t pronounce it. But he has been asking Swedish people who he’s met (so far, as part of the exchange program process) to call him Sture.

Is that weird; if he asks people in Sweden to call him Sture, will Swedes make fun of him or think that his request is bizarre, since he is called John in the US? And is the name “Sture” a nice name?

Thanks.

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The original was posted on /r/sweden by /u/CraftAccomplished784 at 2024-03-27 13:08:14+00:00.

  • Dannebot@leddit.danmark.partyOPMBSvenska
    1·
    8 months ago

    Obligatorium1 at 2024-03-27 16:08:52+00:00 ID: kwte7ic

    Do you understand that not all people consider being Swedish the highest honor imaginable? Quite a lot of people of the kind you describe don’t consider themselves Swedish at all,

    Sure, but we weren’t talking about people’s personal identities, but rather how others will define them. If you live in Sweden, I will consider you a Swede. Some will require you to have a Swedish heritage. Others will require you to adhere to some nebulous “Swedish culture”, whatever that is. Your personal identity is an entirely different matter, because no one can decide that but you.

    are perfectly happy being whatever nationality they are.

    Pick a leg to stand on. Should we consider what people define themselves as, or is there an objective nationality that you either belong to or don’t, regardless of what anyone thinks abou it? Because by saying they are happy “being whatever nationality they are”, you are defining them as unequivocally one specific nationality - regardless of their identity, or how others perceive them.