Finnish names
So, recently I've been really into Finnish names. Here are some that caught my eye. Feel free to make some comments (and help with pronunciation!)
Girls:
Eija - prn. AY-ya? Possibly from the hapy exclaimation "eijaa".
Irina - From Irene, the Greek goddess of peace.
Kaarina - Finnish for of Catherine.
Kielo - prn. KI-eh-lo? Means "lily of the valley".
Kiira - Finnish form of Keira.
Lahja - prn. LAH-ya? Means "gift".
Loviisa - Finnish form of Louisa.
Lumi - Means "snow".
Matleena - Finnish form of Magdalene.
Meri - Means "the sea".
Paiva - Not sure about pronunciation. Means "day".
Pauliina - Finnish form of Paulina.
Petra - Feminine for of Peter
Pinja - prn. PIN-ya? Means "pine tree".
Piritta - Finnish form of Bridgit
Priita - Finnish form of Britta.
Riika - Finnish short form of Frederica.
Satu - Means "fairy tale, fable".
Seija - Means "tranquil, serene".
Siiri - Finnish short form of Sigrid.
Silja - Finnish form of Cecilia.
Sohvi - Not sure of pronunciation, but it's the Finnish form of Sophia.
Suvi - Means "summer".
Taika - Means "magic, spell".
Tarja - Finnish form of Daria.
Taru - Means "legend, myth"
Tea - Short form of Dorothea and Theodora.
Teija - Finnish form of Dorothea.
Teresa - Possily from the Greek words for "summer" and "to harvest".
Tuija - Means "cedar".
Boys:
Jalo - prn. YA-lo? Means "noble, gracious".
Mainio - Means "excellent".
Mikko - Finnish form of Michael.
Niilo - Finnish form of Nicholas.
Niko - Finnish form of Nicholas.
Oskari - Finnish form of Oscar.
Otto - Means "wealth, fortune".
Paavali - Finnish form of Paul.
Paavo - Finnish form of Paul.
Reijo - Finnish form of Gregory.
Reko - prn. Rico? Finnish form of Gregory.
Roopertti - Finnish form of Robert.
Sebastian - "From Sebaste".
Sepi - Finnish short form of Sebastian.
Severi - Finnish form of Severus.
Simo - Finnish form of Simon.
Sulo - Means "charm, grace".
Taavi - Finnish form of David.
Tahvo - Finnish form of Steven.
Taneli - Finnish form of Daniel.
Tarmo - Means "energy".
Timo - Finnish form of Timothy.
Veli - Not sure about pronunciation, but it means "brother".
Also, WDYTO Jasper? I used to hate it, but recently I've been loving it.
Girls:
Eija - prn. AY-ya? Possibly from the hapy exclaimation "eijaa".
Irina - From Irene, the Greek goddess of peace.
Kaarina - Finnish for of Catherine.
Kielo - prn. KI-eh-lo? Means "lily of the valley".
Kiira - Finnish form of Keira.
Lahja - prn. LAH-ya? Means "gift".
Loviisa - Finnish form of Louisa.
Lumi - Means "snow".
Matleena - Finnish form of Magdalene.
Meri - Means "the sea".
Paiva - Not sure about pronunciation. Means "day".
Pauliina - Finnish form of Paulina.
Petra - Feminine for of Peter
Pinja - prn. PIN-ya? Means "pine tree".
Piritta - Finnish form of Bridgit
Priita - Finnish form of Britta.
Riika - Finnish short form of Frederica.
Satu - Means "fairy tale, fable".
Seija - Means "tranquil, serene".
Siiri - Finnish short form of Sigrid.
Silja - Finnish form of Cecilia.
Sohvi - Not sure of pronunciation, but it's the Finnish form of Sophia.
Suvi - Means "summer".
Taika - Means "magic, spell".
Tarja - Finnish form of Daria.
Taru - Means "legend, myth"
Tea - Short form of Dorothea and Theodora.
Teija - Finnish form of Dorothea.
Teresa - Possily from the Greek words for "summer" and "to harvest".
Tuija - Means "cedar".
Boys:
Jalo - prn. YA-lo? Means "noble, gracious".
Mainio - Means "excellent".
Mikko - Finnish form of Michael.
Niilo - Finnish form of Nicholas.
Niko - Finnish form of Nicholas.
Oskari - Finnish form of Oscar.
Otto - Means "wealth, fortune".
Paavali - Finnish form of Paul.
Paavo - Finnish form of Paul.
Reijo - Finnish form of Gregory.
Reko - prn. Rico? Finnish form of Gregory.
Roopertti - Finnish form of Robert.
Sebastian - "From Sebaste".
Sepi - Finnish short form of Sebastian.
Severi - Finnish form of Severus.
Simo - Finnish form of Simon.
Sulo - Means "charm, grace".
Taavi - Finnish form of David.
Tahvo - Finnish form of Steven.
Taneli - Finnish form of Daniel.
Tarmo - Means "energy".
Timo - Finnish form of Timothy.
Veli - Not sure about pronunciation, but it means "brother".
Also, WDYTO Jasper? I used to hate it, but recently I've been loving it.
Replies
I like all of them except for Päivä. It's a bit hard for me to see it as a name since it's a part of my very limited Finnish vocabulary.
My favorites:
Irina
Kaarina
Petra
Seija
Tarja
Teija
Niko
Oskari
Paavo
Taneli
My favorites:
Irina
Kaarina
Petra
Seija
Tarja
Teija
Niko
Oskari
Paavo
Taneli
As the pronounciations are covered already I'll just say what think...
Eija - Sweet. The meaning is so weird imo. I would've thought it was a pet name for some E- name.
Irina - Lovely, but I'd use Irene.
Kaarina - Great, it feels both old-fashioned romantic and comfortably familiar.
Kielo - I like the meaning more than the sound.
Kiira - ok, modernish.
Lahja - Too old sounding.
Loviisa - Very nice.
Lumi - Pretty, but a bit trendy.
Matleena - I don't find it terribly attractive even though I love other forms of the name.
Meri - It has been too common in years past, I'm a bit meh on it.
Paiva - Better than Päivi atleast. I like Pilvi.
Pauliina - Well, I adore Pauline.
Petra - Very nice.
Pinja - Very very sweet.
Piritta - I like it, feels medieval.
Priita - Ok. Sounds Indian.
Riika - Kind of ok.
Satu - Quite lovely, but I've known too many.
Seija - I had a period when I was younger when I loved this name.
Siiri - Sweet. But I'd use Siri.
Silja - Lovely! It's such a pity there's a famous cruise company with the name, makes it impossible to use. I like Milja, Hilja, Vilja and Lilja too.
Sohvi - It's okay as a nickname for Sofia.
Suvi - Lovely name, being the old-fashioned word for summer.
Taika - Ok, but cutesy.
Eija - Sweet. The meaning is so weird imo. I would've thought it was a pet name for some E- name.
Irina - Lovely, but I'd use Irene.
Kaarina - Great, it feels both old-fashioned romantic and comfortably familiar.
Kielo - I like the meaning more than the sound.
Kiira - ok, modernish.
Lahja - Too old sounding.
Loviisa - Very nice.
Lumi - Pretty, but a bit trendy.
Matleena - I don't find it terribly attractive even though I love other forms of the name.
Meri - It has been too common in years past, I'm a bit meh on it.
Paiva - Better than Päivi atleast. I like Pilvi.
Pauliina - Well, I adore Pauline.
Petra - Very nice.
Pinja - Very very sweet.
Piritta - I like it, feels medieval.
Priita - Ok. Sounds Indian.
Riika - Kind of ok.
Satu - Quite lovely, but I've known too many.
Seija - I had a period when I was younger when I loved this name.
Siiri - Sweet. But I'd use Siri.
Silja - Lovely! It's such a pity there's a famous cruise company with the name, makes it impossible to use. I like Milja, Hilja, Vilja and Lilja too.
Sohvi - It's okay as a nickname for Sofia.
Suvi - Lovely name, being the old-fashioned word for summer.
Taika - Ok, but cutesy.
I'm trying to write down the phonetics as closely as possible. but there might be some errors. Some of these sounds are just difficult to write down in English. Just remember that every time you see two vowels in a row, the name has a long vowel sound, whereas all individual vowels have a short vowel sound.
(BTW, Finnish is an entirely phonetic language. There's only one possible way to spell each sound, so it's easy to tell how written words are pronounces once you learn the basic sounds of the language)
Eija - Prn. AY-yuh. NMS. Ir's kind of dated, really. Girl names ending in "-ja" were hugely popular in the fifties, so I associate most of these names with older women.
Irina - Prn. ee-REE-nuh. Very pretty, but I slightly prefer Irene.
Kaarina - Prn. KAA-ree-nuh. I like it. It's pretty, feminine, and old-fashioned.
Kielo - Prn. KI-eh-lo. I love this name because I love lilies-of-the-vally. Ir's just darling.
Kiira - Prn. KEE-ruh. This is actually a Finnish form of Kyra, not a form of Keira. It's NMS.
Lahja - Prn. LAH-ya. This is too much of a word to me. I can't see it as a name.
Loviisa - Prn. lo-VEE-suh. Pretty, but Ipersonally prefer Lovisa.
Lumi - Prn. like the first part of the English word 'luminescence'. Lumi is a favourite of mine. It's beautiful, and has a wonderful meaning.
Matleena - mat-LEHN-nuh. This name has been growing on me lately. It's also has that old-fashioned charm.
Meri - Prn. kind of like 'merry', except that the Finnish pronouncation of the letter r kind of rolls.
Paiva - Prn. Oh, dear, how do I explain this? Oh shoosh, I'm not even getting started... Anyways the correct spelling is actually Päivä. A and Ä are two different letters. Paiva doesn't mean anything. I personally don't like this name.
(BTW, Finnish is an entirely phonetic language. There's only one possible way to spell each sound, so it's easy to tell how written words are pronounces once you learn the basic sounds of the language)
Eija - Prn. AY-yuh. NMS. Ir's kind of dated, really. Girl names ending in "-ja" were hugely popular in the fifties, so I associate most of these names with older women.
Irina - Prn. ee-REE-nuh. Very pretty, but I slightly prefer Irene.
Kaarina - Prn. KAA-ree-nuh. I like it. It's pretty, feminine, and old-fashioned.
Kielo - Prn. KI-eh-lo. I love this name because I love lilies-of-the-vally. Ir's just darling.
Kiira - Prn. KEE-ruh. This is actually a Finnish form of Kyra, not a form of Keira. It's NMS.
Lahja - Prn. LAH-ya. This is too much of a word to me. I can't see it as a name.
Loviisa - Prn. lo-VEE-suh. Pretty, but Ipersonally prefer Lovisa.
Lumi - Prn. like the first part of the English word 'luminescence'. Lumi is a favourite of mine. It's beautiful, and has a wonderful meaning.
Matleena - mat-LEHN-nuh. This name has been growing on me lately. It's also has that old-fashioned charm.
Meri - Prn. kind of like 'merry', except that the Finnish pronouncation of the letter r kind of rolls.
Paiva - Prn. Oh, dear, how do I explain this? Oh shoosh, I'm not even getting started... Anyways the correct spelling is actually Päivä. A and Ä are two different letters. Paiva doesn't mean anything. I personally don't like this name.
Just a small comment on the pronunciations: Finnish names are always stressed on the first syllable.
Irina = IH-rih-nah.
Loviisa = LOH-vee-sah. (LOH like in the British pronunciation of "lock". Not a diphthong.)
Matleena = MAHT-leh-nah or MUT-leh-nah. The eh is drawn out, but it's not a diphthong (i.e. not MAHT-lay-nah).
Pauliina = POW-lee-nah. (POW rhymes with "cow".)
Piritta = PIH-rit-tah.
Taru = TAH-roo. The oo is short, like "cook", not like "kook".
Teresa = TEH-reh-sah.
Mainio = MY-nih-oh. The oh is short, not a diphthong.
Roopertti = RAW-pehrt-tih.
Sebastian = SEH-bahs-tih-ahn or SEH-bus-tih-un.
Taneli = TAH-neh-lih.
Irina = IH-rih-nah.
Loviisa = LOH-vee-sah. (LOH like in the British pronunciation of "lock". Not a diphthong.)
Matleena = MAHT-leh-nah or MUT-leh-nah. The eh is drawn out, but it's not a diphthong (i.e. not MAHT-lay-nah).
Pauliina = POW-lee-nah. (POW rhymes with "cow".)
Piritta = PIH-rit-tah.
Taru = TAH-roo. The oo is short, like "cook", not like "kook".
Teresa = TEH-reh-sah.
Mainio = MY-nih-oh. The oh is short, not a diphthong.
Roopertti = RAW-pehrt-tih.
Sebastian = SEH-bahs-tih-ahn or SEH-bus-tih-un.
Taneli = TAH-neh-lih.
Thanks for correction! :-) I know how to pronounce the names myself, but it's always difficult for me to write down the phonetics in English.
Thank you so much--those pronunciations are very helpful!
Girls:
Eija -- really love it
Irina -- nms. I've never liked Irene-ish names because people always mispronounce my name by calling me Irene.
Kaarina -- gorgeous!
Kielo -- I like the "KI-eh" part, but really dislike the "lo" sound.
Kiira -- very pretty
Lahja -- love it!
Loviisa -- nms
Lumi -- *ads to PNL*
Matleena -- nms.
Meri -- I know that it's an individual name and I really love it, but I fear that I could be seen as a kre8tyv spelling of Mary to anybody less name-nerdy than us
Paiva -- If this is "Pye-EEV-uh" then I love it
Pauliina -- always hated Paulina...
Petra -- Love it. This name has been on my list forever.
Pinja -- not crazy about the sound
Piritta -- so pretty!
Priita -- eh.
Riika -- nms
Satu -- I can't get over the "sat" part.
Seija -- nms
Siiri -- very cute!
Silja -- not crazy about it, but ok.
Sohvi -- Oh! I've always though Sophie names were a bit overrated, but now I must eat my words!
Suvi -- gorgeous
Taika -- so pretty!
Tarja -- tar.
Taru -- more tar.
Tea -- people would probably mispronounce it by saying "TEE" as in tea the drink.
Teija -- don't like the sound
Teresa -- for some reason Teresa always seemed old-ladyish to me.
Eija -- really love it
Irina -- nms. I've never liked Irene-ish names because people always mispronounce my name by calling me Irene.
Kaarina -- gorgeous!
Kielo -- I like the "KI-eh" part, but really dislike the "lo" sound.
Kiira -- very pretty
Lahja -- love it!
Loviisa -- nms
Lumi -- *ads to PNL*
Matleena -- nms.
Meri -- I know that it's an individual name and I really love it, but I fear that I could be seen as a kre8tyv spelling of Mary to anybody less name-nerdy than us
Paiva -- If this is "Pye-EEV-uh" then I love it
Pauliina -- always hated Paulina...
Petra -- Love it. This name has been on my list forever.
Pinja -- not crazy about the sound
Piritta -- so pretty!
Priita -- eh.
Riika -- nms
Satu -- I can't get over the "sat" part.
Seija -- nms
Siiri -- very cute!
Silja -- not crazy about it, but ok.
Sohvi -- Oh! I've always though Sophie names were a bit overrated, but now I must eat my words!
Suvi -- gorgeous
Taika -- so pretty!
Tarja -- tar.
Taru -- more tar.
Tea -- people would probably mispronounce it by saying "TEE" as in tea the drink.
Teija -- don't like the sound
Teresa -- for some reason Teresa always seemed old-ladyish to me.
Here is a nice link in English, where you can see the popularity for each name, if you are interested:
https://192.49.222.187/Nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=3
Eija - Pronounced AY-yah, as you said.
Irina - Finnish pronouncition would be: I-ri-nah. It is also popular in Russia, where it is pronounced i-REE-nah
Kaarina - Pr. KAH(long)-ri-nah
Kielo - prn. KIE-lo (I like in eagle, E like in Ella), I like it
Kiira - Prn. like Kira in Russian, but with a long i. I have bad associations with it.
Lahja - prn. L-AH-H-Y-AH, LAH-yah
Loviisa - Also used in Sweden, prn. LAW-vee(long)-sah, it is a city in Finland as well
Lumi - Means "snow". (prn. LOO-mee), not often used
Matleena - pronounced MAHT-le(long)-nah
Meri - Means "the sea". - Pronounced a bit like Merry, I love it
Paiva - You mean Päivä? Yes, it means day. "Ä" is hard to explain - it is pronounced æ, but you can say -e- as well, many people, who learn learned Finnish, do so.
Pauliina - Finnish form of Paulina. Prn. P-AH-OO-L-EE(long)-N-AH, PAHOO-lee-nah
Petra - prn- PE-trah
Pinja - prn. PIN-yah, I can't explain, why, but I hate it...
Piritta - Pi-ri-ttah
Priita - PREE(long)-ttah
Riika - Are you sure you don't mean Riikka? Riika is a capital of Latvia in Finnish. prn. REE(long)-kah. But of course, Riika is used in finland as well - it is not that popular.
Satu - Prn. (SAH-too), Adorable name!
https://192.49.222.187/Nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=3
Eija - Pronounced AY-yah, as you said.
Irina - Finnish pronouncition would be: I-ri-nah. It is also popular in Russia, where it is pronounced i-REE-nah
Kaarina - Pr. KAH(long)-ri-nah
Kielo - prn. KIE-lo (I like in eagle, E like in Ella), I like it
Kiira - Prn. like Kira in Russian, but with a long i. I have bad associations with it.
Lahja - prn. L-AH-H-Y-AH, LAH-yah
Loviisa - Also used in Sweden, prn. LAW-vee(long)-sah, it is a city in Finland as well
Lumi - Means "snow". (prn. LOO-mee), not often used
Matleena - pronounced MAHT-le(long)-nah
Meri - Means "the sea". - Pronounced a bit like Merry, I love it
Paiva - You mean Päivä? Yes, it means day. "Ä" is hard to explain - it is pronounced æ, but you can say -e- as well, many people, who learn learned Finnish, do so.
Pauliina - Finnish form of Paulina. Prn. P-AH-OO-L-EE(long)-N-AH, PAHOO-lee-nah
Petra - prn- PE-trah
Pinja - prn. PIN-yah, I can't explain, why, but I hate it...
Piritta - Pi-ri-ttah
Priita - PREE(long)-ttah
Riika - Are you sure you don't mean Riikka? Riika is a capital of Latvia in Finnish. prn. REE(long)-kah. But of course, Riika is used in finland as well - it is not that popular.
Satu - Prn. (SAH-too), Adorable name!
Thanks so much! I never would have guessed some of those pronunciations!
Girls:
Eija - I prn it EY-ah. I like it!
Irina - Never liked it
Kaarina - Spell it Carina or Karina, with two a's it get too finnish for me
Kielo - makes me think of Frida Kahlo
Kiira - Sure, but spell it Kira
Lahja - prn it like you do, but I don't like the spelling.
Loviisa - Spell it Lovisa
Lumi - Nice, beautiful
Matleena - *laugh* Mat is she Swedish word for food, and Lena / Leena is a name for me, so it makes me think "food lena" Awful as a name
Meri - beautiful
Paiva - makes me think of "pava" which some people say instead of a glas of bear
Pauliina - spell it Paulina
Petra - don't like it
Pinja - yes I prn it like PIN-ya
Piritta - Awful!
Priita - Oh, even more awful
Riika - Makes me think of the swedish word rika, which means rich.
Satu - It could work..
Seija - Beuatiful, prn it SEY-yah
Siiri - Spell it Siri, but it's still awful
Silja - Beautiful
Sohvi - Don't like it. prn it SOH-wee, almost as Zoe
Suvi - metter than Sohvi
Taika - Beautiful
Tarja - Too finnish
Taru - sounds like a boy
Eija - I prn it EY-ah. I like it!
Irina - Never liked it
Kaarina - Spell it Carina or Karina, with two a's it get too finnish for me
Kielo - makes me think of Frida Kahlo
Kiira - Sure, but spell it Kira
Lahja - prn it like you do, but I don't like the spelling.
Loviisa - Spell it Lovisa
Lumi - Nice, beautiful
Matleena - *laugh* Mat is she Swedish word for food, and Lena / Leena is a name for me, so it makes me think "food lena" Awful as a name
Meri - beautiful
Paiva - makes me think of "pava" which some people say instead of a glas of bear
Pauliina - spell it Paulina
Petra - don't like it
Pinja - yes I prn it like PIN-ya
Piritta - Awful!
Priita - Oh, even more awful
Riika - Makes me think of the swedish word rika, which means rich.
Satu - It could work..
Seija - Beuatiful, prn it SEY-yah
Siiri - Spell it Siri, but it's still awful
Silja - Beautiful
Sohvi - Don't like it. prn it SOH-wee, almost as Zoe
Suvi - metter than Sohvi
Taika - Beautiful
Tarja - Too finnish
Taru - sounds like a boy