Finnicize

Finnicization 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 names.

Related Topics:
Swedish - Finnish - National Romanticism - Finland - Fennoman

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Many of these people actually came from families that had originated from Finnish speaking farmers, who had previously changed their Finnish names into Swedish ones after climbing society's ladder. This was an understandable stratagem under circumstances where official positions (and even many trades) were only open to Swedish-speaking people, and a Finnish name would have been more than a mere mark against one.

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