Gender: Masculine
Origin: Estonian/Finnish/Sami
(YOO-ho)
The name was originally a diminutive form of Juhani, the Finnish form of John, but is now used exclusively as an independent given name.
As of 2011, Juho was the 24th most popular male name in Finland.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Finnish/Estonian
Meaning: “wide”
The name is most likely a contraction of Väinämöinen, which is most likely derived from the name of a river, which in itself is derived from a Finnic element, väinä, meaning, “wide”.
In Finnish and Estonian mythology, Väinämöinen, (or Vanemuine in Estonian), was a god-like figure who possessed a magical voice and loved to play on his Finnish harp.
He plays a central and integral part in the Kalevala and in the Estonian epic, the Kalevipoeg.
In both Finland and Estonia, Väinämöinen and Vanemuine are rarely used as given names, but its abbreviated forms are fairly common .
As of 2011, Väinö was the 23rd most popular male name in Finland.
Another Finnish form is Väinämö, its diminutive forms are: Väiski, Väiskä, Vänni, Vänski, Väntti/Väntty, Vänttä, Vänä and Väpä.
Other forms include:
The designated name-day in both Finland and Estonia is February 17.
Sources
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Finnish
(AY-noh)
The name is a contracted from of any name beginning with, ein.
As of 2011, this was the 12th most popular male name in Finland.
Other forms of the name include:
Feminine forms include Eini and Einikki.
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “must be loved.”
If you are an 80s baby like myself, Amanda is just another run-of-the-mill, female name that was ever-present throughout high school and college.
Amanda is the name of your lab partner in chemistry, she is the head cheerleader, she might even be your best friend, or maybe its your own name.
In the United States, the name is ubiquitous among females between the ages of 35 and 16. Between 1976 and 1992, she ranked in the top 10. Today, her popularity has gone down to # 188, (2010). She is borne by a variety of young female celebrities. There is Mandy Moore (b.1984) and Amanda Bynes (b.1986) just to name a few. While I personally never got the chance to appreciate this name, I understand the appeal for the parent of the 1970s and 80s. She has a romantic quality about her, the same appeal as the Shakespearean Miranda, and while the latter often gets shortened to the tom-boyish Randy, Amanda is easily shortened to the more girlish Mandy. Poor Amanda has also spun off her own teasable play on words from “I need Amanda Love” to “it’s a man, duh!”
Amanda is a Latin female gerundive verb meaning “to be loved”, the female form seems to have first appeared on a birth record from Warwickshire England in 1212. Other than that, she was seldom heard of other than in plays and poems till the end of the 20th-century. It is the name of a character in Colley Cibber’s play Love’s Last Shift (1696).
There is a masculine form, Amandus, which is the name of two saints and is currently rising in popularity in Scandinavia. Amandus might make an interesting choice for the hipster parent looking to such names as Augustus and Atticus for inspiration.
As of 2011, Amanda was the 21st most popular female name in Finland. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:
Other forms of the name include:
Male forms are:
Its designated name day in most countries is October 26. Common English nickname is Mandy. The nickname has been the subject of such songs as Barry Manilow’s Mandy and the 1919 rag-time by Irving Berlin.
Czech diminutives forms are Ama, Amka and Amaduška.
James C. Christensen
Gender: Feminine
Origin: German
Meaning: “spear strength.”
Eng (GER-trood); Ger (ger-TROO-də)
She has adorable nickname options; Trudy, among others. She has a similar feel to other current vintage trend-setters such as Matilda and Eleanor, yet Gertrude, for the most part remains unloved. Like Hildegard and Brynhild, this is one of those names where I often ask myself: why not?
She is strong, vintagy and no-frills, as mentioned before, she has tons of adorable nickname options. Is she really anymore grandmotherly or old sounding than Emma, Eleanor, Matilda or even Abigail? We have gotten used to hearing these names but I remember a time when the above names were considered “too old” until it took one famous person to use them and voila, they are automatically endearing and trendy.
Ok, I’ll get off my high horse and get onto the what the name is really all about.
Portrait of Gurtruydt van Leyden.
by James C. Christensen via http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/saintsandangels/17.htm
Gertrude is composed of the Germanic roots, ger (spear) and þruþ (strength).
The name was borne by several illustrious medieval women, two of whom are saints. Gertrude of Nivelles (626-659) is revered as the patron saint of cats! I am not quite sure how she came to be known as a feline patron, but she was the daughter of Pepin I and was supposed to be married off at the age of ten, but steadfastly refused, insisting that she would only marry Christ. After the death of her father, her wealthy mother constructed Gertrude her very own convent, making her the abbess. She is also invoked against mice and rat infestations.
Another Gertrude is Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) a German nun, mystic and great theologian of her time.
The name has been borne by German and Dutch royalty alike.
Gertrude is pretty well-known in the English-speaking world, but actually never experienced much usage. It was introduced into England in the 15th-century by Dutch settlers, where it was ocassionally used. It appears in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1600) as the name of the hero’s mother. It was used sparingly in the United States at the beginning of the 20th-century, possibly being introduced by German immigrants. The highest it ever ranked was in 1898 coming in as the 573rd most popular female name.
In the United States, its most famous bearer is Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), famous writer and poet.
As of 2011, her Finnish form of Kerttu was the 20th most popular female name in Finland and Geertruida came in as the 491st most popular female name in the Netherlands, (2010). Meanwhile, its Dutch diminutive offshoot of Geertje is the 368th most popular female name in the Netherlands, (2010).
Other forms of the name include:
Common German and English short forms are Gertie and Trudi/Trudy.
Artwork
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Scandinavian
(VEE-vee)
The name is a Scandinavian short form of Olivia, Lovisa or Sofia. It has been used as an independent given name since the beginning of the 20th-century.
As of 2011, its Finnish form of Viivi was the 19th most popular female name in Finland.
Vivi is also the name of a river in Russia.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Slavic Вера
Meaning: “faith.”
Eng (VARE-uh; VEER-uh); Rus (VYEH-rah)
The name is most likely a borrowing from the Russian female name, Vera, which comes directly from the Slavic meaning, “faith.” Initially, it was a Russian-Orthodox cognate of the Greek female name, Pistis (Faith), the name of an early Christian saint and martyr.
The name has been used outside of Eastern Europe since at least the 19th-century. It is unclear how the name caught on in the English-speaking world, but by the time of its popularity the name was usually associated with the Latin, verus, (true), verses, the Slavic, (hope).
Its usage in Albania may also be connected with the Albanian word, verë, (Summer).
The name is borne by several famous Russian women, including silent film actress, Vera Kholodnaya (1893-1919) and theatre actress, Vera Komissarzhevskaya (1864-1910); Chemist, Vera Popova (1867-1896).
Other notable bearers include: English writer and feminist, Vera Brittain (1893-1970); Ukrainian-American actress, Vera Farmiga (b.1973); American actress, Vera Miles (b.1929); American fashion designer, Vera Neumann (b.1907) and American fashion designer, Vera Wang (b.1949).
The highest the name ranked in the United States was in 1919 when she came in as the 65th most popular female name; its popularity may have had something to do with Vera Kholodnaya who died the same year, but this is only my personal conjecture.
As of 2010, Vera is the 675th most popular female name in the United States. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:
Other forms of the name include:
Diminutive forms include:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Norwegian
(SEE-ree)
The name is a contracted form of the Old Norse, Sigrid.
The name has been used as an independent given name since at least the 18th-century. As of 2011, its Finnish form of Siiri 9th most popular female name in Finland. While in 2010, she was the 57th most popular female name in Sweden.
Other forms of the name include:
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish/Estonian
Meaning: “pearl”
(HEL-mee)
The name was originally a diminutive form of the name Vilhelmiina, but later became an independent name in Finland due to its coincidental meaning of “pearl,” in Finnish. The pronunciation could be heard here: http://www.forvo.com/word/helmi/
As of 2011, Helmi was the 11th most popular female name among Finnish speakers in Finland.
The designated name-day in Finland and Estonia is May 7th. In Sweden, it is April 6th.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish/Estonian
Meaning: “only; the one.”
(I-no)
The name is found in the national Finnish epic, the Kalevala, as the name of the “only sister” of Joukahainen.
Joukahainen promised his sister’s hand marriage to the very old Väinämöinen, after losing a singing contest.
When Aino finds out she must marry the old man, she drowns herself, and returns as a sort of water spirit, appearing in the form of a salmon to haunt the grieving Väinämöinen.
It is believed by many Finnish linguist that Aino was not actually her name because in the Kalevala she is referred to as ainoa tytär, (only daughter), and it is believed that this designation was confused for her actual name.
At the end of the 19th-century, the name was introduced by Fennoman activists.
The first to bear the name was Aino Järnefelt Sibelius (1871-1969), the first wife of famous Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. It was also borne by Aino Krohn Kallas (1878-1956), and Estonian-Finnish author.
As of 2011, Aino was the 5th most popular female name in Finland.
Other forms of the name include:
The designated name-days are:
May 10 (Estonia/Finland) and June 13 (Sweden).
Sources