In the original Norwegian language, the boy's name is Julian. He is born on Christmas Eve, which is the day that Christmas is celebrated in Norway. The Norwegian word for Christmas is 'Jul'- hence his name 'Julian' and Hedvig's comment about his parents being fantastic people. Julian's older sister's name is 'Juni'- the Norwegian word for 'June'. At the beginning of the film, when Julian visits her grave, her date of birth is shown as being on the 12th of June.