koristenimen

Koristenimi is a term in Finnish onomastics that designates an ornamental name attached to a person, place, or thing in historical or literary texts to enhance its identity. It functions as a descriptive or embellishing element, distinct from the core personal name or official title. In scholarly usage, koristenimi is often considered a byname or epithet that accompanies the main name.

In practice, koristenimi appears as a descriptive phrase or epithet that may reference character traits, notable deeds, visual motifs, or symbolic associations. The form can be a simple adjective, a compound phrase, or a short descriptive clause that emphasizes prestige, memory, or distinguishing features. While the exact phrasing varies, the common aim is to create a more vivid or memorable designation than the bare name alone.

Koristenimi serves several functions. It can aid in identification within textual traditions that include many similar names, it can convey social or moral qualities attributed to the person, and it can contribute to the stylistic texture of chronicles, sagas, poetry, or other narrative forms. The practice parallels similar bynames or epithets found in other linguistic and cultural traditions, where embellishment of a name signals status, lineage, or noteworthy characteristics.

Today, koristenimi is primarily of historical and philological interest. It is studied to understand naming practices, textual aesthetics, and how identities were constructed and conveyed in older Finnish sources. In contemporary language use, such ornamental names are infrequent outside scholarly or literary contexts.