Oheisnimi

Oheisnimi is a term used in Finnish onomastics to denote a supplementary or alternate name attached to a person or entity. It accompanies the main name and serves to identify, describe, or distinguish the subject in certain contexts. It is not necessarily part of the legal or primary name; rather, it functions as an additional label used in specific texts or records.

The oheisnimi can take several forms, including nicknames, pseudonyms, stage names, pen names, epithets, or descriptive qualifiers. It can also cover historical variants or alternate spellings used in different languages or time periods. The key feature is that the oheisnimi provides extra information that aids identification or context rather than forming the core, legally recognized name.

In practice, oheisnimi appear in biographical writing, bibliographies, catalogues, and archival material. They help disambiguate individuals with similar or identical main names and can convey aspects of a person’s social identity, occupation, or public persona. The way an oheisnimi is recorded or presented varies by source, and its placement—such as in parentheses, after the main name, or separated by a comma—depends on editorial conventions and historical usage.

Etymologically, oheisnimi combines oheinen meaning “attached” or “supplementary” with nimi meaning “name.” It is a flexible concept used to capture naming variants beyond the primary name, reflecting how people and entities are identified in different contexts.