Maija

Medieval vernacular form of Maria. Cognate with Swedish Maja and Estonian Maia.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑi̯jɑ/, [ˈmɑ̝i̯j(ː)ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑijɑ
• Homophone: maya
• Syllabification^(key): Mai‧ja
• Hyphenation^(key): Mai‧ja

Maija

1. a female given name
   • 1910, Maiju Lassila, Tulitikkuja lainaamassa, Gummerus, published 2001, →ISBN, page 42:

     "Iidako se on tämän Variksen akan nimi?"
     "Iidaksihan ne tätä papin mukaan haukkuvat, vaikka olisihan se näin mökkiläisen akan nimeksi välttänyt paljas Maijakin tahi vaikka Suso", mukasi Varis.

     Iida is what that Varis's woman was called?
     "Well, Iida is what the priest wrote as her name and that's how they call her names, even if that kind of rural woman could've been called Maija or even Suso", Varis blustered.

   • 1922, Anni Swan, Pikkupappilassa, WSOY, published 1966, page 142:

     Lotti tenäsi koreita nimiä vastaan, ne olivat niin vaikeat lausua. Ja hänen paperinukkensa eivät olleet mitään ruhtinattaria tai sotapäälliköitä, ne olivat hänen omia pikkulapsiaan ja niillä piti olla pikkulasten nimet. Maija ja Kerttu ja Lassi ja Lilli.

     Lotti argued against overly flowery names, since they were so hard to pronounce. Her paper dolls were no princesses or warlords; they were her own children and they needed children's names. Maija and Kerttu and Lassi and Lilli.

   • 2010, Matti Yrjänä Joensuu, Harjunpää ja rautahuone, Otava, →ISBN, s. 166:

     Äiti oli halunnut tyttärestä pelkän Maijan — se oli hänestä selkeä ja rehellinen suomalainen nimi.

     The mother would've liked her daughter to just be a Maija — to her, it was a clear and honest FInnish name.

• Maija is the 35^th most common female given name in Finland, belonging to 17,351 female individuals (and as a middle name to 13,058 more), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

First recorded as a given name of Latvians in 1506. From Marija (“Mary”).

Maija f

1. a female given name

• Klāvs Siliņš: Latviesu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, →ISBN
• [1] Population Register of Latvia: Maija was the only given name of 6552 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010.