Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish/Estonian
Meaning: “silent; quiet; calm.”
(HEEL-yah).
The name is related to the Finnish words hiljainen (quiet), hiljaisuus (silence) and hiljaa (quiet, calm). It was quite popular at the turn of the 19th-century. Its designated name-day is October 8.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “blue.”
Both names come directly from the Finnish word for “blue.”
The name is borne by Swedish Social Democrat politician, Sinikka Bohlin (b. 1947) as well as by Norwegian vocalist Sinikka Langland.
The designated name day in Finland is September 2nd.
To hear what both names sound like when pronounced by native speakers, consult this link: http://www.forvo.com/search/Sinikka/ and for Sini http://www.forvo.com/word/sini/
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “lily of the valley.”
(KEE:eh-lo)
The name comes directly from the Finnish word for the lily of the valley.
The name is borne by Finnish actress Kielo Tommila (b. 1950).
To hear pronunciation by native speakers, listen to: http://www.forvo.com/word/kielo/.
The designated name-day is June 15.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: unknown
The name is of ancient origins but its meaning seems to have been lost. In Finnish mythology, it is borne by the god of the hunt, the son of Tapio.
He appears in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.
The designated name-day is January 10.
The name is not very common in Finland.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “peace.”
Pronunciation can be heard here: http://www.forvo.com/word/rauha#fi
The name comes directly from the Finnish word for peace.
Its designated name-day is December 29.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
(KEER-see)
The name is Finnish and can either be considered a contracted form of Kirsten, a diminutive form of Kirsikka (which is Finnish and means “cherry,” or from a Finnish word for frost. It is sometimes used in conjuction with Marja, Kirsi-Marja/Kirsimarja, which also happens to be a Finnish synonym for cherry. Its designated name-day is July 24.
Gender: Feminine
Origins: Welsh/Old Norse
Meaning: “snow; snow white; white as snow; or “protection; mercy; help.”
(Ay-rah South Wales; I-rah North Wales; AYR-wen South Wales; IRE-wen North Wales. Swedish/Finnish I-rah)
Eira can be of two different etymologies and origins, in Welsh, it is related to the word eir, meaning “snow”, the offshoot of Eirwen is composed of the elements eir and gwen, (which either means fair, blessed or white), in which case, Eirwen would roughly translate as “white as snow”, “snow white” or “white snow.” A reverse of Eirwen, is Gwyneira, which virtually means the same thing, pronounced (gwyn-AY-rah) South Wales, and (gwyn-EYE-rah) North Wales.
Eira can also be connected to an Old Norse element. It is believed to be a variation of the Old Norse female name, Eir, which was the name of the Norse goddess of healing. Eir means, “protection; mercy; help.”
It is also the name of a neighborhood in Helsinki which its name from a hospital. Its designated name-day in all Scandinavian countries, including Finland, is August 9. Other forms of this version include
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “calm; serene.”
(SAY-yah) Audio can be heard here: http://www.forvo.com/search/Seija/
The name seems to have been revived by a Finnish school teacher by the name of Yrjö Karilas, who gave the name to his daughter, Ester Seija Karilas (b.1917). Karilas’ claimed that he saw the name Seia, the name of an Ancient Roman goddess of crops, and it reminded him of the Finnish word seijas, meaning “calm; serene.” However, the name seems to pre-date the birth of Karilas’ daughter, as records indicate that there were at least two girls named Seija born in 1912.
Seija became the most popular female name in Finland in 1948.
Its designated name-day is December 13.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish/Estonian
Meaning: “the sea.”
(MEH-ree). Pronunciation can be heard here: http://www.forvo.com/word/meri/
The name comes directly from the Finnish and Estonian word for the sea, but it is also speculated that it may have originally been used as an alternative for Maria. As of 2008, approximately 5521 women in Finland bore the name Meri. There is also a popular compound form, which is Meri-Tuuli, literally meaning “sea wind.” The designated name-day in Finland is December 3, while in Estonia, it is April 22nd.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Finnish
Meaning: “woman.”
Pronunciation can be heard here: http://www.forvo.com/search/Kyllikki/
The name is derived from an old Finnish word for woman and was popularized through the Finnish national epic the Kalevala, in which there is a prominent female character of the same name (featured left). It is considered a “revived” name from the National Romantic Movement in Finland, and was officially placed in the Finnish national calender in 1905, before that, she was found in the Finnish Public Awareness Society’s calender as early as 1882.
JR Apselin was the first known person in contemporary times to bestow the name upon his daughter, Aino Aura Kyllikki, the same year the name appeared in the official calender. Thereafter, Kyllikki spiked in popularity and peaked between the 1920s and 1930s as the most popular feminine name in Finland. The name was the inspiration of a Sibelius song of the same name.
There are Estonian forms, which are: Külli, Küllike and Külliki.
Their designated name-day is December 8, and currently, approximately 67 363 women in Finland bear the name Kyllikki (2008).