Finnish names

[sanjam.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I've been following this comm for a while. I'm from Finland, and thought I'd share my favourite Finnish names with you (there are a few, and as you might be able to tell, I'm more into girls' names than boys', hah).

(Unlike the US, our name laws are pretty strict, and you can't just name your child anything you'd like. Basically, the name has to either be in the calendar, or at least reminiscent of a name in the calendar, even if with a slightly different spelling. You also need to have a reason (for example one of the parents being from another country originally) to give your child a foreign name. I think the law is becoming a little less strict though because people keep coming up with new names they want to use. Just thought that I'd share this bit of info.)



If the name means something, I've included the translation after the name, just for fun.

Girls
Aada
Aamu (morning)
Eevi
Elena
Ellen
Helmi (pearl)
Hilla (cloudberry)
Ilma (air)
Ilta (evening)
Inari
Irina
Kaisla (scirpus)
Kanerva (a type of heather)
Kielo (lily of the valley)
Lahja (gift)
Linnea
Loviisa
Lumi (snow)
Onerva
Orvokki (viola)
Pihla
Pilvi (cloud)
Päivä (day)
Raakel
Ruut
Signe
Silva
Taru (tale)
Tuomi (bird cherry)
Vanamo (linnaea)
Varpu
Vellamo
Viena
Vilja (wheat)
Virva
Vuokko (anemone)

Boys
Aarre (treasure)
Eeli
Eelis
Eemil
Elias
Eljas
Joakim
Joosef
Juhana
Pietari
Toivo (hope)
Touko (may)
Jasper
Lenni
Luukas


You might be able to tell I like floral names ;)

Here's a list of all the boys' names and here of girls'.

Comments

[lemmes.livejournal.com]

I think Pihla has something to do with pihlaja, rowan. Kind of obvious, I guess. :D I think we should start some kind of a Finnish invasion here. I'm getting a bit tired of all those English names. ;)

Oh, and a bunch of great names. Most of them are on my list of favourite names, too. But I guess that's obvious. ;)

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

I LIKE:
Elena
Lahja
Linnea
Lumi
Pilvi
Silva
Elias
Jasper

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

I like Elena, Ilta, Linnea, Signe, Vilja, Eeli, Jasper, Joosef, and Luukas pretty well.
I'm from the US though, with no connection to the country/culture/language so most of these aren't ones I would actually use. They're just foreign names that I appreciate.

[snoglobel.livejournal.com]

I like:
Aada
Eevi
Elena
Ellen
Helmi (pearl)
Hilla (cloudberry)
Ilma (air)
Inari
Irina
Lahja (gift)
Linnea
Loviisa
Lumi (snow)
Päivä (day)
Raakel
Signe
Silva
Viena

Boys
Aarre (treasure)
Eelis
Eemil
Elias
Eljas
Joakim
Joosef
Pietari
Toivo (hope)
Jasper
Lenni
Luukas

Actually I surprised myself by liking most of them. I hope I got the pronunciations right as I am in the US. I probably wouldn't use these spellings, but I like the names. (spellings are too 'foreign' to me)

[sanjam.livejournal.com]

They're pronounced as they look, if that's any help. Every letter has just one sound (then again, what that one sound is, I don't know how you could figure that out :P ) There are some online speech prosessors but I doubt you're that interested. If you are you can probably find one by googling. I'm glad you liked so many of them :)

[harvestlunacorn.livejournal.com]

I like Lumi and Elias.

[sloane-hd.livejournal.com]

I like:

Elena
Lahja
Linnea
Elias
Joakim
Jasper
Luukas

[pinkysmith.livejournal.com]

how is lahja pronounced?

[sanjam.livejournal.com]

Lah-ya, with the h pronounced as well. Hope that helps. Almost like Lach-ya I guess.