Fennicize
Encyclopedia
Fennicization or finnicization (fennicisation/finnicisation) is the changing of one's personal names from other languages (usually Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

) into Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

. During the era of National Romanticism in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, many people, especially Fennoman
Fennoman
The Fennomans were the most important political movement in the 19th century Grand Principality of Finland. They succeeded the fennophile interests of the 18th and early 19th century.-History:...

s, fennicized their previously Swedish family names.
Many of these people were descended from Finnish-speaking farmers, who had previously changed their Finnish names to Swedish ones after climbing society's ladder. This was an understandable stratagem, as official positions (and even many trades) were only open to those speaking Swedish, and a Finnish name would have been an impediment to success.

In the 18th century, Finnish recruits serving in the Swedish army were given short Swedish surnames such as Törn, Malm and Brun. This was because Swedish officers found Finnish names difficult to pronounce. Some of these names were later fennicized to Törni, Malmi, etc.

A notable event in fennicization was the centenary, in 1906, of the birth of the philosopher and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman
Johan Vilhelm Snellman
Johan Vilhelm Snellman was an influential Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman, ennobled in 1866.Snellman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as son of Kristian Henrik Snellman, a ship's captain...

. Author Johannes Linnankoski
Johannes Linnankoski
Johannes Linnankoski was a Finnish author. His most famous work is the sensual Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta...

 encouraged Finns to give up their Swedish names on 12 May, Snellman's birthday. During 1906 and 1907 about 70,000 Finns changed their names.

Notable finnicized names

  • Johannes Brofeldt changed his name to Juhani Aho
    Juhani Aho
    Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt, was a Finnish author and journalist.Aho's literary output is wide-ranging since he pursued different styles as time passed....

  • Tauno Brännäs to Tauno Palo
    Tauno Palo
    Tauno Valdemar Palo was a Finnish actor and singer in what some consider the golden age of Finnish cinema....

  • Aleksander Filander to Santeri Alkio
    Santeri Alkio
    Santeri Alkio was a Finnish politician, author and journalist. He is also considered to be the ideological father of Finnish Centre Party.-History:...

  • Georg Zacharias Forsman to Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen
  • Axel Waldemar Gallén to Akseli Gallen-Kallela
    Akseli Gallen-Kallela
    Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic . His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity...

  • Johan Gustaf Hellstén to Juho Kusti Paasikivi
    Juho Kusti Paasikivi
    Juho Kusti Paasikivi was the seventh President of Finland . Representing the Finnish Party and the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Minister of Finland , and was generally an influential figure in Finnish economics and politics for over fifty years...

  • Erik Nikolai Järnefelt to Eero Järnefelt
    Eero Järnefelt
    Eero Erik Nikolai Järnefelt was a Finnish realist painter.Eero Järnefelt was born in Viipuri, Finland. His father August Aleksander Järnefelt was an officer in the Russian army and his mother was Elisabeth Järnefelt . He studied at the St...

  • Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm to Eino Leino
    Eino Leino
    Eino Leino was a Finnish poet and journalist and is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry. His poems combine modern and Finnish folk elements. The style of much of his work is like the Kalevala and folk songs. Nature, love, and despair are frequent themes in Leino's work...

  • Renqvist to Reenpää
  • Heikki Rydman to Heikki Ritavuori
    Heikki Ritavuori
    Heikki Ritavuori, originally Rydman , was a Finnish Bachelor of Law, a politician from the National Progressive Party, a member of the Parliament of Finland, Minister of Internal Affairs, and for a short time also Deputy Minister of Justice...

  • Alexis Stenvall to Aleksis Kivi
    Aleksis Kivi
    Aleksis Kivi , born Alexis Stenvall, was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, Seven Brothers...

  • Carl Johan Ståhlberg to Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
    Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
    Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg was a Finnish jurist and academic, who played a central role in the drafting of the Constitution of Finland in 1919. He was the first President of Finland and a nationalist liberal.-Early life:...

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