Jaakko Raunamaa (University of Helsinki):
The spread of Pre-Christian Finnic personal names in the Medieval Baltic Sea area
This paper studies pre-Christian Finnic anthroponyms and their spread in the northeastern Baltic Sea area before the end of Middle Ages (c. AD 1550). Over 2000 name occurrences have been collected from various sources. The oldest attestations date to 11th century but most of them are from 14th and 15th centuries. The aim has been to collect all the likely pre-Christian Finnic personal names and locate them on a map. Following pre-Christian name elements with their variants have been searched for: Auvo, Hima, Hyvä-, Iha-, Ika-, Ilma-, Kaipa-, Kauka-, Kyllä-, Leina-, Lempa-, Mieli-, Päivä-, Toivo-, Uska-, Valta-, Vihta- and Vilja-.
The chosen occurrences are presented on a map together with the results of an earlier study where the lecturer studied the spread of village names that were based on pre-Christian Finnic personal name elements. The result is compared to the distribution of Late Iron Age archaeological finds in the northeastern Baltic Sea area. In addition, the spread of pre-Christian Finnic anthroponyms is analysed in the light of late latest linguistic and genetic researches. Some more intriguing parts of northeastern Baltic Sea area, such as Ingria, will be analysed more closely. Last, the development and spread of Finnic tribes, languages and pre-Christian personal names is discussed in a broader perspective.