A Comparison of Naming Practices in Eastern and Western Finland in Late 16th Century1 Unni Leino2 / Pietari Uv3 Abstract It is well known that there were clear differences between the naming practices in Eastern and Western inland during the medieval / earl" modern period# $owever% st!dies have generall" fo& cussed on data from one of these regions% mainl" in order to be able to do an in&depth anal"sis# 'his st!d" aims to be e(plicitl" comparative, b" taking a set of names from each of these regions and looking at the similarities and differences between the two sets# In order to keep the two sets comparable, the data is taken from two ta( registers in the third )uarter of the *+th centur"% one in Upper ,atakunta in western inland in *-.* and another in ,avonia /inor in eastern inland in *-+20+1# 'his is not altogether ideal% as it is clear that ta( re& cords had specific traditions with regard to how the names were recorded and thus the names do not full" ref5ect the practices in the overall communit"# 6evertheless% it can be seen that while the given names in both registers are )uite similar% the b"names show clearl" that the underl"ing name s"stems differ# Introduction Looking back in time% it is possible to see three separate innish personal name s"stems# 'his division into three main s"stems is of co!rse something of an oversimpli23cation% as there is variation within each of these% and the lines between the s"stems are not sharp# Nevertheless% the division is usef!l in de& scribing the histor" of personal naming in Finland# 'he oldest of the three s"stems dates from Proto& innic times and reaches !p to abo!t *377# It is !s!all" called the Ancient or 9ld innish s"stem% altho!gh the latter term is somewhat misleading% considering that the term 9ld innish itself refers to the phase of the lang!age that was in !se c# *-170 *:27 ;see e#g# Lehikoinen0<i!r! *=:=> 2?# 8 brief overview of the s"stem can be seen in Ainiala et al# ;27*2> *-.0*-=?% and in-depth reconstr!ctions have been proposed b" orsman ;*:=1? and ,toebke ;*=+1?# This personal name s"stem was replaced relativel" soon af@er the Aatholic ch!rch and the incipi& ent Swedish state spread their in45!ence to Finland% and in the 14th cent!r" when names appear in writ& ten records more than B!st sporadicall" in Western inland% onl" a handf!l of names are lef@# C" the *+th cent!r"% when records from Eastern inland are available% the ancient names have alread" disap& peared from common !se% altho!gh traces have s!rvived in place names and s!rnames to the present da"# ,tarting from aro!nd 1277% the Ancient Finnish name s"stem was replaced b" one that is clearl" a part of the medieval ,candinavian c!lt!re# In this s"stem% a person wo!ld be given a single name at or aro!nd baptism% and this wo!ld be augmented b" one or more b"names as needed# While this name s"stem developed grad!all" over the cent!ries% as a s"stem it contin!ed !ntil the start of the 20th cen& t!r"# ,witching over to a s"stem that consists of given and s!rnames was a slow process in45!enced both b" the modernisation of the innish societ" and the rise of national conscio!sness in the second half of the 19th cent!r" (/ikkonen 27*3% Paikkala 2771?# 'he b!lk of the given names in the medieval s"stem are of Ahristian origin and at least in West& ern inland the b"names follow the practice of the rest of ,candinavia. or the most part% given names * 8n earlier man!script that led to this article was written for a book intended to hono!r the memor" of D!d" GerB!o"% known as Caroness Jaelle of 8rmida, 8rgent ,nail Herald Extraordinar" and former Laurel F!een of 8rms# Unfort!nately the book never came to beG this article is nevertheless dedicated to her memor"# 2 Hesearch centre PLUH8L% Tampere Universit" 3 'IllII Härold% Drachenwald College of Heralds Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic and Scribal (virt!al) S"mposi!m LL% 1*0*2 Jul" 2027 appear in doc!ments in ,wedish form% altho!gh it is clear that most had separate innish collo)!ial forms# Hecords from the medieval period are relativel" few% and most of the historical data we have is from the post-reformation period# ,till% from the e(isting medieval records it is evident that in inland the reformation did not bring immediate changes to the name s"stem like it did in Central E!rope# Lirt!all" all late medieval and *+th cent!r" given names come from a limited set of saintsM names# 'his c!stom% originall" started b" the Catholic Ch!rch% contin!ed af@er reformation> the f3rst L!theran breviari!m ;Agricola *-11? incl!des a calendar of saintsM feasts% altho!gh these were no longer f!ll" cel& ebrated in the Aatholic manner# Later the tradition of assigning Nname da"sM moved from the Ah!rch to the almanacs given o!t b" sec!lar authoritiesG c!rrentl" the tradition is !pheld b" the Almanac 9f& 23ce at the Universit" of Helsinki# /edieval ,candinavian names were used in the conte(t of what Ainiala et al# ;27*2> 12=0*3-) call a s"stem based on single names# 'hat is% there was no s"stematic !se of s!rnames or similar to augment the single baptismal given name# 'his is tr!e at least for most of the <ingdom of ,weden 0 Clom)vist ;*==7? cites <ing John III in *-.3> N$ere in ,weden% it has not been nor is it the general c!stom to !se s!rnames or famil" names as in foreign co!ntries#M $owever% while Western inland was in line with the rest of the kingdom% in Eastern inland famil" names were in !se alread" in medieval times ;e#g# Paikkala 2771> **7% 277.> 27+?# 'his is one arg!ment orsman ;*:=1> **=0*32? presents for his tentative and% to be frank% rather weak h"pothesis that famil" names were alread" present ;even if not mandat& or") in the Ancient Finnish name s"stem# As in the rest of the kingdom% b"names were added to the single given name when necessar"# Later on 0 !ltimatel" b" *=2* when the ,!rnames Act went in effect 0 man" of these b"names de& veloped into hereditar" s!rnames% b!t in the second half of the *+th cent!r" the vast majorit" of West& ern Finnish b"names were still individ!al and co!ld change from one doc!ment to another# ,t!dies on the development of the /odern innish personal name s"stem acknowledge that famil" names were !sed in Eastern inland at least in the earl" modern period# $owever% as medieval records are onl" available from the Western provinces the descriptions of the /edieval innish name s"stem are heavil" slanted in that direction# 'he goal of this brief st!d" is to look at the differences between the naming practices in Eastern and Western inland% based on the names in two *+th cent!r" administrative record books# Data 'he data comes from two so!rces# From Eastern Finland% I have !sed the *-+20+4 land register of ,avo& nia /inor ;Alanen 27*7% printed version 277:?# rom Western inland% I have !sed data that originates from the *-.* silver ta( register% available electronicall" as a part of a more general compilation of per& sonal names from Satak!nta (,!vanto 277*?# 'he Eastern data set covers three Savonian parishes% ,ääminki% Rantasalmi and Tavinsalmi (mod& ern <!opio?# 'here are *-71 persons in the set# 'he Western data was not as easil" accessible% so I picked o!t onl" the names from the parish of <angasala, 433 persons# While the data sets are not e(& actl" similar% the" are nevertheless close eno!gh for a comparative st!d"> both are administrative re& cords that list farm owners% there is less than a decade between the two% and both have eno!gh names in them for a representative anal"sis# ,ince the data comes from two lists of farms and their owners% there are some limitations# First% it is impossible to tell an"thing abo!t female names# 'he onl" woman in the data is <arin $ansdotter% former unwed wife of Johan% D!ke of inland ;since *-+:% John III of Sweden) who had been given the manor of Vääks" when the co!ple separated#1 1 Aohabitation seems to have relatively common in those da"s% so that Agricola (*-1=? takes half a page while introd!cing the marriage ceremon" to speak against those who Ofor 23ve or si( "ears% or even longer% sleep together and bear bastardsO. Dohn and <arin had fo!r children b!t had to separate when it became politicall" expedient for him to marr" Catherine Jagellon% sister of the King of Poland% in 1562# 'he eldest of these children became the mother of Co!nt Jacob de la Gardie% later Lord $igh Aonstable of ,weden and the only Western general so far to s!ccessf!lly occ!p" /oscow ;altho!gh he’s more famo!s for spending si( "ears occ!p"ing Novgorod?G he was raised b" <arin in Lääks" af@er being orphaned at a yo!ng age.