Fennicization
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Fennicization or Finnicization is the changing of one's personal names from other languages (usually Swedish) into Finnish. During the era of National Romanticism in Finland, many people, especially Fennomans, fennicized their previously Swedish names.
Many of these people actually came from families that had originated from Finnish-speaking farmers, who had previously changed their Finnish names into Swedish ones after climbing society's ladder. This was an understandable stratagem under circumstances where official positions (and even many trades) were only open to Swedish-speaking people, and a Finnish name would have been more than a mere mark against one.
[edit] Notable finnicized names
- Johannes Brofeldt changed his name to Juhani Aho
- Aleksander Filander to Santeri Alkio
- Tauno Brännäs to Tauno Palo
- Georg Zacharias Forsman to Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen
- Axél Waldemar Gallén to Akseli Gallen-Kallela
- Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm to Eino Leino
- Johan Gustaf Hellstén to Juho Kusti Paasikivi
- Alexis Stenvall to Aleksis Kivi
- Erik Nikolai Järnefelt to Eero Järnefelt
- Heikki Rydman to Heikki Ritavuori
- Renqvist to Reenpää
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Sukunimien muutokset (List of fennicized names)
