A Brief Historical Outline of Traditional Surname Practices in Finland

Authors

• Sofia Kotilainen Jyväskylän yliopisto

Abstract

In this article Sofia Kotilainen studies the tradition of using common family surnames primarily from the viewpoint of historical research and onomastic history. The research focuses on the long-term cultural and social significances of this surname practice. She considers how and why the first Finnish Surname Law affected the surname culture, which was for a long time characterised by popular customs. Kotilainen adopts both a microhistorical and a genealogical approach, with help of which she has compiled a large quantitative collective-biographical database from the church parish archives, comprising over 25,000 persons living in the local community studied. By using the genealogical method, it is possible to ascertain the kinship ties between persons, and these ties then help to explain the choice of names. The naming legislation of the early 20th century did not completely respect the traditional naming practices of the Finnish-speaking rural people but rather aimed primarily to standardize naming practices in different parts of Finland. Only relatively recently, from the Marriage Law of 1930 up to the 1980s, were married couples required to use a common surname in Finland. This constituted a very short period in the history of rural women’s surname customs. Generally, the traditional kinship-based practices had a more enduring influence than legislation, particularly in eastern Finland.