Finnish names are very similar in structure to European ones. They also consist of a first and last name. Also officially the last name follows the first name. In Finland, names of foreign origin and native Finnish are equally used. The latter have not yet lost their original significance and are highly valued by the population.
Origin of Finnish names
According to Finnish law, the personal name of a citizen of the country must consist of a personal name and surname. It is possible to assign up to three names at the baptism of the child or at the time of birth registration Although most often assigned one or two. A prerequisite is that the names should go well with the surname and be euphonic. It is allowed to register a child with a reduced version of the full name.
Finnish names that have been adopted in the Lutheran Finnish calendar have different origins. There are a lot of ancient pagan names in this list. You can trace the connection of such names with the words that are the basis for them. For example: "Ainikki" means "the only one", "Armas" - "beloved", "Ilma" - "air", "Kauko" - "distance", "Lempi" - "love", "Rauha" - "peace", "Sulo" - "charm", "Taisto" - "struggle", "Tarmo" - "energy", etc.
There are names that were borrowed from the Germanic and some other northern peoples. These names have undergone significant changes in the process of entering a number of Finnish names. And over time, they began to be perceived by native speakers as originally Finnish. Although, unlike the former, they are not associated with any word or meaning.
According to ancient Finnish customs and rules, the firstborn gets the name of the paternal grandparents, and the next child gets the maternal grandparents. Further children are usually named after the next of kin, in honor of their parents and godparents.
Features of Finnish names
Among the most common male Finnish names are: Matti, Pentti, Timo, Kari, Heikki, Anti. Among the female names, the most widespread are: Marya, Aino, Anna, Tuula, Ritva, Pirkko, Lena, etc.
An interesting feature of Finnish names is that they are not inflected, they always have an emphasis on the first syllable, and are also always placed before the surname.
Also, Finnish names have a number of mandatory requirements. Siblings should not have the same first name. You cannot call a child names that have an offensive or derogatory meaning. It is undesirable to use the surname as the first name.
Despite the abundance of various modern and borrowed names, the following trend is now observed in Finland: parents tend to name their child with an original Finnish name. Such love for the past cannot but rejoice.
