[Opinions] Re: Finnish names
in reply to a message by Mel
I'm trying to write down the phonetics as closely as possible. but there might be some errors. Some of these sounds are just difficult to write down in English. Just remember that every time you see two vowels in a row, the name has a long vowel sound, whereas all individual vowels have a short vowel sound.
(BTW, Finnish is an entirely phonetic language. There's only one possible way to spell each sound, so it's easy to tell how written words are pronounces once you learn the basic sounds of the language)
Eija - Prn. AY-yuh. NMS. Ir's kind of dated, really. Girl names ending in "-ja" were hugely popular in the fifties, so I associate most of these names with older women.
Irina - Prn. ee-REE-nuh. Very pretty, but I slightly prefer Irene.
Kaarina - Prn. KAA-ree-nuh. I like it. It's pretty, feminine, and old-fashioned.
Kielo - Prn. KI-eh-lo. I love this name because I love lilies-of-the-vally. Ir's just darling.
Kiira - Prn. KEE-ruh. This is actually a Finnish form of Kyra, not a form of Keira. It's NMS.
Lahja - Prn. LAH-ya. This is too much of a word to me. I can't see it as a name.
Loviisa - Prn. lo-VEE-suh. Pretty, but Ipersonally prefer Lovisa.
Lumi - Prn. like the first part of the English word 'luminescence'. Lumi is a favourite of mine. It's beautiful, and has a wonderful meaning.
Matleena - mat-LEHN-nuh. This name has been growing on me lately. It's also has that old-fashioned charm.
Meri - Prn. kind of like 'merry', except that the Finnish pronouncation of the letter r kind of rolls.
Paiva - Prn. Oh, dear, how do I explain this? Oh shoosh, I'm not even getting started... Anyways the correct spelling is actually Päivä. A and Ä are two different letters. Paiva doesn't mean anything. I personally don't like this name.
Pauliina - Prn. pow-LEE-nuh. Adorable and very feminine.
Petra - Prn. pretty muhc the same way it's pronounced in English, although - again - the r is not pronounced like the English r. Petra is a gorgeous name.
Pinja - Prn. PIN-ya. Cute, but still NMS.
Piritta - Pr. pee-RIT-tuh. I've never liked this name.
Priita - Prn. PREE-tuh. Sounds awfully weird to me.
Riika - Prn. REE-kuh. Love this name.
Satu - Prn. SA-too. I like the meaning more than I like the actual name.
Seija - Prn. SAY-yah. A bit dated, but I like it anyways.
Siiri - Prn. SEE-rih. I've always thought this name is terribly cutesy. I can't imagine it ageing very well, but that's just me.
Silja - Prn. SIL-yah. Very pretty.
Sohvi - Prn. SOH-vee. Sound too much like the word 'sohva', which means 'couch'.
Suvi - Prn. SOO-vee. This is the name of a close relative of mine.
Taika - Prn. TIE-kuh. Kind of pretentious, if you ask me.
Tarja - Prn. TAR-yah. Has grown on me, though I'm still not crazy about it.
Taru - Prn. ta-ROO. OK.
Tea - Prn. te-UH. Like it, though I prefer Thea.
Teija - TAY-yah. Dated and boring.
Teresa - teh-REH-suh. It's OK, though nothing special.
Tuija - -yah. Again, dated.
Boys:
Jalo - Prn. YA-lo. I like these old-fashioned adjective names, but I still can't help but think of a loyal dog when I hear this name. I don't know where that association comes from, though, and I'm not sure if it's just me.
Mainio - Prn. my-NEE-oh. Cute as a button, and nicely unusual.
Mikko - Prn. MICK-koh. OK, but hugely popular.
Niilo - Prn. NEE-loh. I love this name!
Niko - Prn. NEE-koh. It's OK, but I'm kind of tired of it.
Oskari - Prn. OS-kuh-ree. Adorable.
Otto - Prn. OT-toh. Incredibly cute.
Paavali - Prn. PAW-vuh-lee. Too heavily associated to the character in Bible.
Paavo - Prn. PAW-voh. Too dated, IMO.
Reijo - Prn RAY-yoh. Again, too dated.
Reko - Prn. RECK-oh. NMS.
Roopertti - Prn. raw-PERT-tee. I much prefer its shorter form, Roope.
Sebastian - Prn. se-BAS-tee-an. One of my favourite boy names ever.
Sepi - Prn. SE-pee. Reminds me of a character in a cartoon I used to watch.
Severi - Prn. SE-ver-ee. Hmm. I've never really had an opinion of this name, but I've beginnign to feel that it could grow on me.
Simo - Prn. SEE-moh. I associate this name to someone obnoxious, which is why I can't get myself to like it.
Sulo - Prn. SU-loh. Aww, it's cute.
Taavi - Prn. TAA-vee. NMS.
Tahvo - Prn. TAHH-vo. Slang word for someone stupid.
Taneli - Prn. ta-NEL-lee. I'm still kind of undecided wheter I like this name or not.
Tarmo - Prn. TAR-moh. NMS.
Timo - Prn. TEE-moh. Like it.
Veli - Prn. VEH-li. It's my uncle's name (his father's name was Bror, which means 'brother' in Swedish :-) ). Personally, though, it's a bit too much of a word to me.
(BTW, Finnish is an entirely phonetic language. There's only one possible way to spell each sound, so it's easy to tell how written words are pronounces once you learn the basic sounds of the language)
Eija - Prn. AY-yuh. NMS. Ir's kind of dated, really. Girl names ending in "-ja" were hugely popular in the fifties, so I associate most of these names with older women.
Irina - Prn. ee-REE-nuh. Very pretty, but I slightly prefer Irene.
Kaarina - Prn. KAA-ree-nuh. I like it. It's pretty, feminine, and old-fashioned.
Kielo - Prn. KI-eh-lo. I love this name because I love lilies-of-the-vally. Ir's just darling.
Kiira - Prn. KEE-ruh. This is actually a Finnish form of Kyra, not a form of Keira. It's NMS.
Lahja - Prn. LAH-ya. This is too much of a word to me. I can't see it as a name.
Loviisa - Prn. lo-VEE-suh. Pretty, but Ipersonally prefer Lovisa.
Lumi - Prn. like the first part of the English word 'luminescence'. Lumi is a favourite of mine. It's beautiful, and has a wonderful meaning.
Matleena - mat-LEHN-nuh. This name has been growing on me lately. It's also has that old-fashioned charm.
Meri - Prn. kind of like 'merry', except that the Finnish pronouncation of the letter r kind of rolls.
Paiva - Prn. Oh, dear, how do I explain this? Oh shoosh, I'm not even getting started... Anyways the correct spelling is actually Päivä. A and Ä are two different letters. Paiva doesn't mean anything. I personally don't like this name.
Pauliina - Prn. pow-LEE-nuh. Adorable and very feminine.
Petra - Prn. pretty muhc the same way it's pronounced in English, although - again - the r is not pronounced like the English r. Petra is a gorgeous name.
Pinja - Prn. PIN-ya. Cute, but still NMS.
Piritta - Pr. pee-RIT-tuh. I've never liked this name.
Priita - Prn. PREE-tuh. Sounds awfully weird to me.
Riika - Prn. REE-kuh. Love this name.
Satu - Prn. SA-too. I like the meaning more than I like the actual name.
Seija - Prn. SAY-yah. A bit dated, but I like it anyways.
Siiri - Prn. SEE-rih. I've always thought this name is terribly cutesy. I can't imagine it ageing very well, but that's just me.
Silja - Prn. SIL-yah. Very pretty.
Sohvi - Prn. SOH-vee. Sound too much like the word 'sohva', which means 'couch'.
Suvi - Prn. SOO-vee. This is the name of a close relative of mine.
Taika - Prn. TIE-kuh. Kind of pretentious, if you ask me.
Tarja - Prn. TAR-yah. Has grown on me, though I'm still not crazy about it.
Taru - Prn. ta-ROO. OK.
Tea - Prn. te-UH. Like it, though I prefer Thea.
Teija - TAY-yah. Dated and boring.
Teresa - teh-REH-suh. It's OK, though nothing special.
Tuija - -yah. Again, dated.
Boys:
Jalo - Prn. YA-lo. I like these old-fashioned adjective names, but I still can't help but think of a loyal dog when I hear this name. I don't know where that association comes from, though, and I'm not sure if it's just me.
Mainio - Prn. my-NEE-oh. Cute as a button, and nicely unusual.
Mikko - Prn. MICK-koh. OK, but hugely popular.
Niilo - Prn. NEE-loh. I love this name!
Niko - Prn. NEE-koh. It's OK, but I'm kind of tired of it.
Oskari - Prn. OS-kuh-ree. Adorable.
Otto - Prn. OT-toh. Incredibly cute.
Paavali - Prn. PAW-vuh-lee. Too heavily associated to the character in Bible.
Paavo - Prn. PAW-voh. Too dated, IMO.
Reijo - Prn RAY-yoh. Again, too dated.
Reko - Prn. RECK-oh. NMS.
Roopertti - Prn. raw-PERT-tee. I much prefer its shorter form, Roope.
Sebastian - Prn. se-BAS-tee-an. One of my favourite boy names ever.
Sepi - Prn. SE-pee. Reminds me of a character in a cartoon I used to watch.
Severi - Prn. SE-ver-ee. Hmm. I've never really had an opinion of this name, but I've beginnign to feel that it could grow on me.
Simo - Prn. SEE-moh. I associate this name to someone obnoxious, which is why I can't get myself to like it.
Sulo - Prn. SU-loh. Aww, it's cute.
Taavi - Prn. TAA-vee. NMS.
Tahvo - Prn. TAHH-vo. Slang word for someone stupid.
Taneli - Prn. ta-NEL-lee. I'm still kind of undecided wheter I like this name or not.
Tarmo - Prn. TAR-moh. NMS.
Timo - Prn. TEE-moh. Like it.
Veli - Prn. VEH-li. It's my uncle's name (his father's name was Bror, which means 'brother' in Swedish :-) ). Personally, though, it's a bit too much of a word to me.
Replies
Just a small comment on the pronunciations: Finnish names are always stressed on the first syllable.
Irina = IH-rih-nah.
Loviisa = LOH-vee-sah. (LOH like in the British pronunciation of "lock". Not a diphthong.)
Matleena = MAHT-leh-nah or MUT-leh-nah. The eh is drawn out, but it's not a diphthong (i.e. not MAHT-lay-nah).
Pauliina = POW-lee-nah. (POW rhymes with "cow".)
Piritta = PIH-rit-tah.
Taru = TAH-roo. The oo is short, like "cook", not like "kook".
Teresa = TEH-reh-sah.
Mainio = MY-nih-oh. The oh is short, not a diphthong.
Roopertti = RAW-pehrt-tih.
Sebastian = SEH-bahs-tih-ahn or SEH-bus-tih-un.
Taneli = TAH-neh-lih.
Irina = IH-rih-nah.
Loviisa = LOH-vee-sah. (LOH like in the British pronunciation of "lock". Not a diphthong.)
Matleena = MAHT-leh-nah or MUT-leh-nah. The eh is drawn out, but it's not a diphthong (i.e. not MAHT-lay-nah).
Pauliina = POW-lee-nah. (POW rhymes with "cow".)
Piritta = PIH-rit-tah.
Taru = TAH-roo. The oo is short, like "cook", not like "kook".
Teresa = TEH-reh-sah.
Mainio = MY-nih-oh. The oh is short, not a diphthong.
Roopertti = RAW-pehrt-tih.
Sebastian = SEH-bahs-tih-ahn or SEH-bus-tih-un.
Taneli = TAH-neh-lih.
Thanks for correction! :-) I know how to pronounce the names myself, but it's always difficult for me to write down the phonetics in English.
Thank you so much--those pronunciations are very helpful!