Finland has a "Naming oversight committee" that approves or rejects names for usage in Finland. And while I think it is quite silly that it is needed, it seems that it is needed. They have loosened the laws somewhat to allow for the changing demographics where there are more parents that are non-Finnish, which is good, but I would suspect that a lot on the reject list are coming from Finns.
This is the reject list:
Ahdin, Aicksar, Alfred's daughter, Amnell, Annatar, Appelsiinikki, Azazel, Buddha, Caladrius, Eklander, Ellé, Ephimachius, Felín, Filipecki, Haades, Jezebel, johannes, Juhoha, Julma-Hurtta, Kaaos, Kallen-Kallela, Klapi, Koivuniitty, Kukurtaja, Lord, Lucifer, Maï, Mielivalta, Nat8hquhs, Nex, Otawa, Paperi, Pelekkä, Punpuli, Puukko Armo, Raivomieli, Rikia, Rody's son, Rosmo, samsam, Saturnius, Sheikki, Sorína, Suudelmitar, Taawi, Tanyá, Tsygä, Tuoni, Uakke, Uhka, Ukonvaaja, Wiiru, Åriz
And since you don't speak Finnish, I will translate a couple.
Puukko Armo - Knife Mercy
Raivomieli - Furious Mind
Julma-Hurtta - Cruel-Hound
Paperi - Paper
Rikia - Brimstone
And those that were approved:
Aamuntähti, Aarnik, Anoo, Arsitar, Avreno, Bobandy, Ellandar, Feeni, Heito, Häkä, Juhania, Kide-Pilvi, Kimara, Konon, Korppi, Lapitar, Lourences, Messis, Mieli, Niittu, Petäjä, Piamon, Pihlajanmarjukka, Pihlamo, Poolo, Pöly, Sanervatar, Saturnus, Sjöbjörn, Taide, Torspo, Unikonsiemen, Wâânutamwee, Yennefer
Torspo - Idiot
Pihlajanmarjukka - Rowanberry
Unikonsiemen - Poppyseed
Häkä - Carbon Monoxide
Some parents.
You also might notice that some parents are more tenacious than others, as while Saturnius was rejected, they came to a compromise and slipped Saturnus through the filters and onto the approved list.
Lucky kid. Safe from bullying now.
But it is interesting to think how our names affect us, because we do tend to attach ourselves to them, making them less a spoken sound and more a part of who we are. And, they affect how others treat us too, for better or worse. A common name might be easy to say but gets confused with others, while an uncommon name might standout, but gets misremembered, misspelled and misspoken.
Which is better?
I don't know - I have the name I have - a weird name. One that people rarely remembered and pronounced correctly on even fewer occasions. It is memorable in the way that people would not want to say it and in class when there was a substitute, I always knew when my name was up on the rollcall list.
Has it affected me?
Yes, but I think overall, it has been more positive than negative, as while people don't remember my name, they remember that they don't remember and are generally uncomfortable and are forced to ask, or allow me to take the lead. There is more curious conversation, less assumption.
Has your name affected you?
I suppose everyone's has, right? Even the people who have changed their names, or use middle names instead. Is it that they didn't like the one given, or did it bring up some kind of memories that they wanted to avoid. A friend of mine legally changed her name to her nickname, which is something she had been called since she was a baby and identified with more than her given name, as it reminds her of her history, the youngest open heart surgery recipient at the time.
Names are funny things. We hear ours, we react as if by magic, our attention is pulled from whatever we are doing and we turn to see what dares interrupt or, what opportunities are on offer. It is a commanding sound that has power of us, but does not hold the same gravity for others, unless they share in our name, a community controlled by a single word.
In Finland, there isn't a large selection of names to choose from and they get used in trends, where for example, the last decade or so has seen a lot of "old" names being used, the kinds of names that grand and great-grand parents might have. Or those who choose names that are "international", because they expect their children to travel through a world of mixed nationalities, likely travelling for work in the future.
I have been called a lot of names in the last forty-plus years and the vast majority of them have been unpleasant, but I don't care much about what people call me, as I am not defined by the sound that comes out of someone's mouth. I find it ridiculous that people don't just get upset about being called the wrong name or an incorrect pronunciation, but they care about what pronouns someone else uses to reference them.
Small minds, without enough real problems with which to deal.
So many say they want to be treated like everyone else, but then demand they are treated with unique exception. They want to be accepted into every group, but exclude others from the groups that they identify with. Claim discrimination, yet are the most prejudiced.
What is in a name?
For some, it is just another sound.
For others, it seems to be all they are.
As they say, actions speak louder than words -
and a name is just another word.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I like this. Since I have a rather common American name, I’ve been accepted? Perhaps even easily remembered, or forgotten depending on who the recipient or reader is. By contrast, my siblings received much more ethnic, distinguished names, which they report are often mispronounced and misspelled.
My sister for a period wanted to change her name to Monica to stand out less, and put to rest the teasing. She grew out of that phase, but I don’t appreciate the needless name calling. I think she’s stronger for it- and of course, with a healthy dose of reassurance we reminded her, people who only seem to comment on the differences all have a certain characteristic in common.
Dummies. Imagine me, Kyle. I like your name, and hope I say it right when I talk about you and read your work, Taraz.
And this is the thing. It creates a different experience, one that is more uncomfortable, but it raises questions and conversation. Even the horrible names. They want to get rid of bullies, as if the world will then be fine, but what they are doing is reducing our ability to be resilient and, build strategies to deal with difficult people.
I don't even know if I say my own name correctly :)
Whats in a name?
Toes by any other name, would smell as feet.
A nose by any other name, would smell as well.
A friend of a friend worked in Human Resources for a Fortune 500 company. One of their employees was named Pepsi Marijuana Jackson.
In the U.S. you can name your kid at birth pretty much anything you want. But if you want to legally change your name as an adult, you need a judge’s approval. A few years back there was a guy in St. Paul who wanted to change his name to 1069 but the judge said no.
My father’s name was Kjell, a fine name in Norway where he was born but damn near impossible for Americans to pronounce correctly. He eventually gave up trying to correct people and went with a Shell pronunciation.
Now Vandyck :D
Isn't it strange that strange?
I have trouble with Norwegian names too. One of my Colleagues is Endre, which "seems so easy", but the R kills me.
I think I remember reading something about how strict the Nordic countries are about names. In particular Iceland, I was amazed to learn about the naming convention of surnames. I don't think, or am not aware that UK has a list, though the authorities can disallow stupid names. Many years ago some celebrities like Jamie Oliver and the Beckhams started giving their kids stupid names, and that seems to have caught on. I mean, why the hell would you call your son Bear Gray? Probably a parent who is equally stupid. And sad to say, I got a Duke in my family 😏 Maybe we should have name list
Iceland is very strict and supposedly they can track their family through the names alone. Pretty cool.
Yeah, celebrity trends drive a lot of the names. In that list above there is Yennefer, which is from the Witcher :D
Did he write a book?
Well, to be fair I first thought that this was a bit nuts, but after surveying the names that were rejected it is clearly needed! Rody's son and Alfred's daughter were particular highlights! Surely a piss take??
I am guessing they must be taking the piss, probably trying to get a bit of attention on social media or something. People are ridiculous.
Yep, people never fail to amaze me with their madness.
Funny, in Japan we have a very similar list of forbidden names. More uniquely, we have a list of kanji that aren't allowed in names because they are deemed to be too difficult to write or too uncommon for anyone to know.
Anyway.
Unlike you, I may have one of the most common names in the West (David). It's hard to say how that affected me, besides being annoying that I was almost always one of many in every class all throughout school.
But then you go to my family name (LaSpina) which is very uncommon in the States, and isn't much more common in its place of origin (Sicily). Nearly every teacher or official was always mispronouncing that one, forcing me to constantly be correcting them. Oddly they pronounce it more correct in Japan than they ever did in America.
My kids we gave pretty normal (if a bit uncommon) Japanese names, but also gave normal but somewhat uncommon English middle names that they can use if they move to an English speaking country when they get older just to make it easier.
You mention the pronouns issue at the end. I don't understand the whole pronoun thing. But I'm content to just step away from that and let these young kids duke it out. Caring about small unimportant things is a young person's game.
:D
My ex was Miia and in her class there was also, Tiia and Piia, all with the same last name, none of them related. :D
Do they make more effort?
This happened in my family too. I have a "normal" middle name.
If only it was young kids. Bandwagon jumping is real in all generations now.
Yes, the name is basically a word.
Here in Italy it was once customary to put the name of the grandparents, this thing is being lost over time.
I think I follow an ancient rule about your last reflections... don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to you.
I bear my grandfather's name and I confess that I like it and perhaps I am fond of it also because no, having met my grandfather it is something that binds me to him.
Twins!
I have my Grandfather's name too, albeit as a middle name :)
Don't do to me, what I don't want you to do - but I will do as I like.
Heh heh Yes twins!
I also have a middle name due to a vow my mum made before I was born... since I didn't arrive she made a vow to Pope John Paul, so my name is Antonio (like my grandfather) Giovanni (like the Pope).
Can you believe that at the age of 24 I had to redo all the documents for that Giovanni? And I went to the bank they told me that for that situation I could have done scams and signed documents with only the name Antonio if I wanted and they couldn't have done anything to me according to the Italian law lol!
Ah and by the way Your name is beautiful and not difficult to remember, at least for me.
I once worked with a man called Rustin Gauntlett. The number of people who asked him, “Is that really your name?” It was genuinely his name. Not a ridiculous name but a highly unusual one to say in the least.
That is definitely one to remember!
If you read it in Russian, it's oranges. I don't know what it could mean in Finnish.)
Hmm, sounds like a good option to me)
If that's your real name, the Slavs have a similar one, only it ends in s instead of z. I like it.
I have the most common name in our lands. In my class alone, out of 30 people, there were eight boys with the same name. And I meet my namesake all the time in my life. But what's funnier is that we named our daughter the same name, although we chose it for a long time... 😜😅
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Same in Finnish - just with a kki on the end.
Yes it is and yes they do. The only other person I have ever met with the name is a Taras, who had Ukrainian parents. One of my parent's friends (old Ukrainian) would Call me Bulba :)
Are there many with the name now? Does your daughter have eight same-named friends? :D
Wow, I didn't know languages were so similar sometimes)
Yes, the name is rare, but still I met a couple more people with the same name. Well, you know that Bulba is a potato, right? And yes, it's a Ukrainian Cossack, a celebrity. We all read that classic as children.
Yes, there are quite a lot of women's names like that. It became very popular for girls at some time, too. But not as popular as for boys.)
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Doesn't your wife work in a school? I bet she sees all kinds of crazy stuff. My wife and I do over here in the US. Not just crazy names, but crazy spelling of the names to. Since when does Henry have a P in it? I remember when I was younger there was a guy who legally changed his name to "trout fishing in the Midwest" or something like that.
She is in recruiting for a private company, but she sees crazy stuff too :D
I am trying to think where the P would go? Phenry? Henpry?
I just made that one up 😃 I've seen crazy stuff though. It's funny because you can tell some of the parents are really low IQ and they just tried to spell it phonetically.
I don’t understand how some parents name their kids weird ass things like carbon monoxide lol how odd. I’m glad that my wife and I were able adult able to choose the name for our son, your brother knows it and could tell you what it is, for we talked about it before. It’s nice and unique and we’ve only met a single handful of people with the same name as him and it fits well and will be a memorable name. Hopefully good memorable! Lol.
It is odd to restrict names but I think we should probably do that a little more to some extent. God only knows what these ultra woke progressive People are going to call their kids. I can’t even imagine lol. I bet some poor unfortunate kid was called Pfizer or something.
Kids with unique names often dislike their names when young, but "grow into them" and appreciate them later. Though, I never really had that phase.
This is my son, Tampon BLM Zis
Lord Appelsiinikki is not bad:D I love oranges:D Also why Tanya is banned? quite strange.
Are double names popular in Finland?
I think it was the accent in Tanyá, not the name.
Double names are relatively popular. I have a colleague who has a double first and a double last name... handy for an email.
An odd committee to me, never heard anywhere in the world. If people choose those names, this is their choice, for awkard names, this is their silliness. Last year here, they let people to change their names appyling from electronic state. This might have been there as well.
I think it is more to save the children these days - parents are a mess :D
If I remember right a few years ago I saw the news that someone in Lithuania named their kid Ragnar. I wonder how many Gokus, Geralts and Gandalfs are roaming the earth...
Gandalf is always roaming. But Ragnar is a normal name!! (almost)
Are you in favour of government’s involvement in names?
Some parents are very weird in naming their kids, people also continue to use their foreign names that no one can pronounce properly.
Somewhat. I don't like state intervention in most things, but many people are also idiots.
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I always preferred the single-syllable version of my name, which is both a boy and girl name - Sam. There's more also with biblical ties and that I was also named after my mom's dad from 1898 so I'm a fan. I guess there's always been a bit of a hassle with my full given name and the short version, but whatever, I know which situations needs my govt name vs my nick name.