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Ooh, Onerva Aleksandra is really lovely, and the meaning's intriguing.
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This is a very interesting list. Is it common in Finland for babies to have more than one middle name?
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Yes, it is. Interestingly, the Finnish naming law was updated in the beginning of this year: now you are allowed to have three middle names (before it was two middle names).
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Hi Remora L !!!Here I am!
Let's the hidden gems of this bunch!Onerva (f aftergrass)
Aleksandra
Talvi (f winter) Timo
Selja (f elder tree)
Kielo (f lily)
Pihka (f resin)
Leo
Helmi
Niklas
Panu (m fire)
Tuisku (f snowstorm)
Alexander
Leo Cornelis
Esther
August
Ernst
Ossian
Otto
Wilhelm
Sulo (m charm, grace)So...
I'd like to ask you about the names that are wordy in Finnish.How Tuisku and Talvi are perceived? A snowstorm is a problem there I imagine while winters are long, cold and dark. Are these names used just because a trend of they are actually negative? I mean: if you use them you are ok or people think that you are just a silly person who want to follow a nature-theme trend?What about Selja (elder tree)? Is this tree important in any myth or more important than other trees?

This message was edited 4/7/2019, 1:09 AM

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Yes, winters are long, cold and dark here and every year you hear people complaining about that. That said, we Finns are used to our seasons and many of us love winter: there are many winter activities you can do (e. g. skiing and skating), not to mention the beautiful wintery landscapes and the northern lights. So, I think Finnish people have more a positive than a negative impression of words/names Talvi and Tuisku. Also, Tuisku is nowadays associated with Antti Tuisku, one of the biggest pop stars in Finland: he has a very bright, radiant image, so I don't think people see Tuisku as a gloomy name.Selja doesn't appear in the Finnish mythology (as far as I know). I only know that a rowan was considered as a holy tree: it was identified with Rauni, who was either a mother goddess and consort of Ukko (the god of the sky and thunder) or Ukko himself. Pihlaja (= rowan in Finnish) is rarely used as a name, but the form Pihla has been very popular in the recent years.
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