We are living in Finland and we are waiting a baby. We need to choose a name for him. We belong to the Finnish-Swedish speakers. Which one from the following names is nicer and closer to the Finns?
Oliver
William
Daniel
Lucas
Alexander
Benjamin
Vastaus
It is difficult to say, which one of the mentioned name combinations is nicest or closest to Finnish naming traditions. There are a lot of names in use with different backgrounds and naming traditions, so it is somewhat difficult to define, what is and what is not "nicer and closer to the Finns". In addition to names that have their roots in Uralic languages, many of the traditional names used by the Finnish speaking peoples also derive, for example, from biblical tradition (e.g. Maria) or Germanic languages (e.g. Henri). Naming a baby is very much a subjective decision.
If you want more information about the names used in Finland, you can explore the Name service provided by the Finnish Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The Name service provides statistical information about names in Finland. For example, the first name search enables you to search for a specific first name and see, how many individuals in Finland have that name. At present, the statistics for the names you have mentioned are as follows:
Oliver: 17 943 Men, 20 Women
William: 7 081 Men, less than 20 Women
Daniel: 19 469 Men, less than 50 Women
Lucas: 3 208 Men, less than 20 Women
Alexander: 20 202 Men, less than 50 Women
Benjamin: 12 549 Men, less than 10 Women
Sources
Digital and Population Data Services Agency: Name Service. https://verkkopalvelu.vrk.fi/nimipalvelu/default.asp?L=3
Kommentit
Alla dessa namn är ganska vanliga, särskilt Oliver och Daniel kan finnas gott om på samma klass. Lucas finns det en mindre grupp - men det finns många som heter Luca. Eller Alex. Eller Aleksi.
En sak kunde ni kanske prova - byt de första bokstaverna av förnamnet och släktnamnet och se, om resultatet är något oanständigt eller dumt. Om det är det, kan ni vara säkra på att barnets kompisar hittar på det och skriker det runtom i skolan eller dagisen. T.ex om namnet vore Kristina Salo - det blir Sastina Krilo, som inte är något "farligt".
It might be helpful to also check the Finnish namesakes (kaima in Finnish). I have not checked these from anywhere, but these come to mind immediately:
Oliver ~ Olli (Ole or Olle in Swedish)
William ~ Ville, Viljami
Daniel ~ Taneli
Lucas ~ Luukas (direct translation, so not very Finnish)
Alexander ~ Aleksi, Aki
Benjamin ~ (I am not sure)
Two points to this.
* Letters w, c, x and b are rare letter in Finnish language. If these letters are in your name, you should be ready to spell your name often.
* Among these name Oliver and Daniel are the easiest names for Finnish speaking Finns.
Jaa...det är sant, men Daniel skulle vara medveten om att bli kallad Taneli eller Tanu, och Oliver blir Olli i alla fall, eller Olu.
Benjamin heter i Finland Pentti, på gammaldags finska Penna, som kallas Pena, hoppas ni inte har en spanskfödd mormor.
Genast utanför Ring III blir namnen mycket olika.
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