[Opinions] Yup, a province bordering Finland and Russia (m)
by Lassia (guest)
12/16/2004, 1:13 AM
Original spelling Karelia (Karjala in Finnish; Karelija in Russian).
I've heard of Karelia being used as a girls' name -- probably for patriotic reasons. A vast part of Karelia was ceded to Russia after WWII, and the population was resettled elsewhere in Finland. The people speak Karelian (a dialect of Finnish; some say a language on its own right). The Karelians feels very strongly for their lost land and fight to keep their culture alive.
The origin of the name Karelia is unclear to me. Maybe it has something to do with someone named Karel? However, the Finnish name, Karjala, seems to refer to cattle-keeping (cattle = karja).
Carelie is a spelling I haven't seen before. Quite nice, actually.
Lass