Frequency: (1439)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Finnish: from aho ‘glade’, ‘forest clearing’. Areas of woodland adjacent to farmhouses were cleared by slash-andburn techniques to produce glades which eventually became pastureland. The name is recorded in the Karelian Isthmus in eastern Finland from the 16th century. In northern Finland it was a popular ornamental name, adopted especially among people converting from Swedish surnames to Finnish in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is now a so-called ‘protected’ name in Finland, meaning that it may not be adopted except through birthright or marriage. In the U.S. it may also be an abbreviation of Ahonen.
GIVEN NAMES: Finnish 9%; Scandinavian 4%. Reino (10), Eino (7), Toivo (6), Wilho (4), Armas (3), Aarne (2), Aarre (2), Aatos (2), Arvi (2), Kaarin (2), Raili (2), Sulo (2); Alvar (2), Swen (2), Iver, Nels, Viljo.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
