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What is the English name equiv of Hakon?
(lemmy.world)
Not sure there is anything close.
Conceptually, it would be Junior.
Prince may also be a contender. Neither is a perfect match.
Hakon comes from a name meaning "High son / Chosen son" equivalent to the Gaelic Acainn, used by many monarchs in Norway including the current one, which I suppose is similar to Patrick ("Noble" - Latin), Max ("Greatest" - English), or Rex ("King" - Latin).
Acc. to Wiktionary the etymology of the Old Norse ancestor of this name is disputed, and it could be either
- from ON hár "high". It's a cognate to Old English hēah → Modern English high.
- from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz "horse" + ON konr "descendant". That "konr" is cognate to English "king".
I don't think there's any good native equivalent for either. English ditched a lot of native names, as they became increasingly associated with pagans, in preference to Classical and French names (as they were "more Christian").
this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
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