Not to be confused with Finlandization or Finnicism.
A set of graves in Tampere, showing the Swedish surname 'Kyander' as well as the finnicized 'Kiianmies'.
Finnicization (also finnicisation, fennicization, fennicisation) 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, finnicized their previously Swedish family names.
Some 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.
A notable event in finnicization was the centenary, in 1906, 100 years after the birth of the philosopher and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman. Author Johannes Linnankoski 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.[1]
In 1935 also 74,064 persons changed their family name and in the in the following year 24,000 more. A law to facilitate changing one's family name was passed in 1934.[2]
The 1906-1907 name change process in Finland was an example for Estonianizing family names in Estonia. Although the law enabled that since 1919, the mass changes took place at the same time than the second wave in Finland, in 1935-1940, and a similar law to facilitate changing one's family name was passed just two weeks earlier than in Finland. During that time 195,000 persons or 17% of the Estonian population changed their family name.[3]
^Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus :: Snellmanin 100-vuotispäivä ja sukunimien suomalaistaminen Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
^Paikkala, Sirkka (2004). Se tavallinen Virtanen(PDF). Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. p. 525.
^Puss, Fred (2021-09-03). "Kakasonist Kaljulaks". Keel ja Kirjandus (in Ewe). 2021 (8). doi:10.54013/kk764a8. ISSN 0131-1441.
Finnicization (also finnicisation, fennicization, fennicisation) is the changing of one's personal names from other languages (usually Swedish) into Finnish...
The Finnicization of Helsinki is the transformation of Helsinki, Finland from a Swedish-speaking city to one that is bilingual or even multilingual, with...
relatively high rate in nationalistic activities (e.g. Karelianism and Finnicization of the country and its institutions). This development was related to...
surnames, common in Finland at that time. Most of the Fennomans also Finnicized their family names, particularly from the end of the 19th century. In...
status, and by the time of Finland's independence in 1917, after a Finnicization campaign by the Fennoman movement, Finnish clearly dominated in government...
Akademie-Verlag. Akademie-Verlag. ISSN 0138-550X. Tikka, Petri (2007). "The Finnicization of Quenya". Arda Philology: Proceedings of the First International Conference...
journal, showing that they are genuinely diverse, and arguing that the "Finnicization" of Quenya did not decline during its development through Tolkien's...
Finnish languages, as early as Proto-Finnic. Many loanwords have acquired a Finnicized form, making it difficult to say whether such a word is natively Finnic...
established as the official "local" language. An intense program of Finnicization, but called "Karelianization", began and Finnish-language schools were...
constituted a separate nationality. This theory strongly opposed any form of Finnicization, which it regarded as turning away from Western civilization, and even...
anti-Russian peasant population. Among his nationalist policies was the Finnicization of the Karelians, because the ultimate goal was the unification of the...
Swedish name Nykarleby, which means 'New Karleby'; the Finnish name is a Finnicized version of the same. The town was chartered in the same year as the nearby...
given command of the Pohjanmaa Military District in 1934. In 1936, he finnicized his surname from the Swedish Strömberg to Siilasvuo and became a member...
from Tistedalen in Southern Norway, took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and Finnicized his surname from Adolfsen in 1935. Oiva was working as a NCO in the supply...
published in Parma Eldalamberon No. 12. Tikka, Petri (2007). "The Finnicization of Quenya". Arda Philology: Proceedings of the First International Conference...
aunt, Kaisa Hagman, assumed responsibility for his raising. Hellsten Finnicized his name to Juho Kusti Paasikivi in 1885. His surname literally means...
was seeking peace with the Soviet Union.[citation needed] He refused to Finnicize the name of his 500-year-old noble house.[citation needed] Pehr Evind...
1938) was a Finnish gymnast who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He finnicized his family name from Öhberg to Saarivuori in 1906. Siukonen, Markku (2001)...
christened Lars Kristian (Finland Swedish: [lɑːrs ˈkristi(j)ɑn]), but he Finnicized his forenames to Lauri Kristian (Finnish: [ˈlɑu̯ri ˈkristiɑn]) during...
languages, possibly as early as Proto-Finnic. Many loanwords have acquired a Finnicized form, making it difficult to say whether such a word is natively Finnic...
It is also the geographic centre of Northern Sápmi. Kautokeino is a Finnicized form of the Sámi name Guovdageaidnu, and it is also adopted by the Norwegians...
(Paula) Ruutu (27 April 1906 – 17 November 1990; née Gran, which was finnicized to Vannila) was a Finnish educator and politician, born in Värtsilä. She...
Aleksandr Petrovich Hudilainen (Russian: Александр Петрович Худилайнен, finnicized as Aleksanteri Petrovitš Hutilainen, born May 2, 1956) is a Russian politician...
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