# Finnish names starting with Ann, Anna



## japanilainen

Terve!

I have a lot of acquaintances whose name start with "Ann" and "Anna" and then some other name which preceed it. As in, "Anna-Maija" "Anna-Maja" "Ann-Karin" "Anna-Leena" "Ann-Kristin".

I am curious why there are so many such names like these? What's the story behind them? Are such names inseparable? As in, should I always call them "Anna-Maija" rather than "Anna"? And one more question, when do they celebrate nimipäivä, if they ever do?


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## sakvaka

There is variance. Use the whole name, unless they prefer applying some other forms. Nimipäivä is usually celebrated on Anna's day.


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## AutumnOwl

Double-names are common in all the Scandinavian countries, especially in Norway and it was popular to give children double-names from the 1930:ies and into the 1960:ies in Sweden, both for girls and boys, and I think it was the same in Finland. A double-name is not always hyphenated, especially not today and among males (perhaps a tradition from the Swedish Royal Family?). As sakvaka says, use the whole name, unless the person prefers something else.


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## japanilainen

Thank you so much 

See, those things are very good to know! I first made a mistake, inadvertently, of calling Anna-Maija just "Anna". Turns out, she had lived in other countries for a while and she's pretty much used to it, but I'd rather do what other Finns do! That's what we should do as outsiders!


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