Aino (mythology)

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Painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, depicting the Aino Story of Kalevala on three panes: The first one is about the encounter of Väinämöinen and Aino in the forest, second depicts Väinämöinen's proposal. The third depicts mournful Aino weeping on the shore and listening to the call of the maids of Vellamo who are playing in the water. In the right-hand panel Aino has made her decision to choose death rather than the obnoxious suitor.

Aino is also an alternative spelling of Ainu; see Ainu language and Ainu people

For other uses, see Aino (disambiguation).

Aino is a figure in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. It relates that she was the beautiful sister of Joukahainen. Her brother, having lost a singing contest to the storied Väinämöinen, promised Aino's "hands and feet" in marriage if Väinämöinen would save him from drowning in the swamp into which Joukahainen had been thrown. Rather than submit to this fate, Aino drowned herself. However, she returns to taunt the grieving Väinämöinen as a salmon.

The name Aino, meaning "only", was invented by Elias Lönnrot who composed the Kalevala. In the original poems she was mentioned as the "only daughter" (aino tytti).

[edit] National romanticism

During the national romantic period at the end of the 19th century the mythological name Aino was adopted as a christian name by fennoman activists. Among the first to be named so were Aino Järnefelt (Aino Sibelius), born 1871 and Aino Krohn (the later Aino Kallas), born 1878. Aino is also said to be the origin of the artist name of Ayn Rand.

According to the Finnish Population Register Centre, over 60,000 women have been given the name. It was especially popular in the early 20th century. ^[1] It has returned to favor in the 21th century; it was the most popular name for girls in Finland in 2006.