etunimien

Etunimien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish noun etunimi, which means first name or given name. In Finnish grammar, etunimi is the word used for a person’s name that is given at birth or chosen to identify an individual, as distinct from the family name (sukunimi). Etunimien denotes possession or association with several given names, and it appears in phrases describing groups or sets of names.

In normal usage, etunimien is used where the sentence requires a relationship to multiple given names. For example, etunimien määrä means the number of given names, and etunimien kirjo refers to the list or collection of first names. The form also appears in contexts that discuss changes to names, such as etunimien vaihtaminen or etunimien rekisteröinti, though such constructions can also use other grammatical forms depending on the syntax.

Finnish noun inflection follows a pattern where etunimet is the nominative plural and etunimien is the genitive plural. The related partitive plural form is etunimiä, used when the amount of names is not complete or is being referred to in a partial sense. The word etunimi itself is often discussed together with sukunimi (surname) and other naming terms when describing Finnish naming practices, name days, and legal name records.

Etymologically, etunimi is a compound of etu- meaning “front” or “before” and nimi meaning “name,” reflecting the concept of the name given at the front, i.e., the given name.