Finnish Names

An attractive Finnish name with the potential to cross borders.

If you are looking for an unusual way to honor an ancestral Mary or Miriam, Mirja might make a good choice. Zero baby girls were given this name in the US in 2014. The rising popularity of Anja has schooled English speakers that the j is pronounced like a y.

This international variation deserves its own listing for a winning combination of distinctiveness and simplicity.

This pretty Finnish name is a diminutive of a diminutive, going from Sarah to Sari to Saija.

If you've heard this name, it's probably from the hero of the acclaimed Julia Glass novel, Three Junes, or else the political scientist Richard Fenno. As well as a Finnish name, it's alos a Frisian diminutive from names in the Frederick family, making it is a cousin of Freddie, Fritz and Fedde. This name is so rare it's never appeared on the charts, but with its energetic O ending it might appeal if you're looking for an alternative to names like Otto and Arlo.

A variation of Olaf that made the Finnish Top 50 in 2022.

A popular Finnish male name properly spelt Väinö, which derives from Väinämöinen – a hero from Finnish legend. Vaino (without the diacritic marks) is a Finnish word meaning "persecution" and so is not used in Finland as a name in this form.

Eetu is a perennial favorite in Finland, but is rarely if ever used in the States - probably because of the unfamiliar (to most people) spelling and pronunciation.

Inventive nickname option, but with built-in pronunciation problems.