THE MOVEMENT TO ESTONIANIZE SURNAMES IN INTERWAR ESTONIA

Abstract

This article focuses on the movement to Estonianize surnames in interwar Estonia following the establishment of independence. A substantial proportion of Estonians had non-Estonian, mainly German, surnames, dating from the time of the emancipation of the serfs in the early nineteenth century. Finland, where a similar situation prevailed with the widespread presence of Swedish surnames, served as a stimulus and model for the Estonian movement. The initial efforts to promote nationalization of names in the 1920s and early 1930s failed, largely because the process was complicated and expensive. On the other hand, when the Pats regime placed the full force of the state behind the campaign, it quickly found a massive response. The extent to which the success of the movement also signified a more integrated and unified ethnic Estonian community, however, remains debatable.