Appendix:Finnish names

Personal names

Full names

Finnish names consist of anywhere from one to four given names and a surname. No 'middle names' exist. One of the given names is chosen as the preferred name, either by the person themselves (or their guardian if minor); for most people, this is their first given name. In some cases, people may also choose multiple names to be their preferred name, in which case they are used together.

The standard way of expressing someone's full name is to give the preferred name, or all given names, first and the surname second. For example, Matti Meikäläinen represents someone whose given name is Matti and surname is Meikäläinen, and Matti Juhani Meikäläinen represents someone, probably the same person, whose given names are Matti Juhani and surname is Meikäläinen. For people whose preferred name is not their first given name, the given names before their preferred name are either omitted or abbreviated. Furthermore, in some cases, the full name may only include initials for the given name. With regard to inflection, only the surname is inflected when using these forms; the given names are in the nominative.

The surname may also come before the given names (Meikäläinen Matti, Meikäläinen Matti Juhani). This is usually seen on official documents, as well as when marking the recipient on an envelope or package. In addition, a surname-first order is also seen in directories and indexes, and occasionally also keywords; in these cases, the surname is often followed by a comma, unlike with the aforementioned use on official documents. Inflection rarely applies to these forms.

In addition, the surname may also come first in the genitive case, e.g. Meikäläisen Matti. This is a strictly informal, but rather common, practice that often implies familiarity. In this form, only the given name (usually only one, but the final one if multiple) is inflected.

Further reading

• Finnish name on Wikipedia.Wikipedia