konttori

Konttori is a Finnish noun meaning an office or administrative office. In contemporary Finnish, it is commonly used to refer to the back office or administrative functions of an organization, such as finance, human resources, or IT support, as distinct from frontline units like sales or customer service. The term is widely used in corporate, municipal, and public administration language and can denote both a physical office space and the department that handles administrative tasks.

The word is generally considered to be derived from the Swedish kontor, meaning “office,” and has entered Finnish through historical language contact. In modern usage, konttori can also appear in a broader, metaphorical sense to describe administrative routines or non-public-facing work within an organization.

Konttori is also a Finnish surname. People with this surname may be found in Finland and among Finnish diaspora communities. As a surname, konttori preserves the word’s original sense of an office or administrative space, though it functions as a family name rather than a direct occupational designation.

In toponymy and urban naming, konttori may appear as a local name in some Finnish towns or districts, often reflecting historical sites associated with administration or offices. The term is also encountered in literature and media as a generic reference to office settings or administrative environments.

See also: toimisto, kontor (Swedish for office).