Estonianisation is the changing of one's personal names from other languages into

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

. Less often, the term has also been applied in the context of the development of

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

, culture and identity within educational and other state institutions through various programmes.

Family names

Before 1918, when

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

became an independent country, around halfGeorge Kurman, ''The Development Of Written Estonian'', Routledge 1997, , page 85 of the country's ethnic Estonian population carried foreign language (mostly German) or "foreign-sounding", i.e. non-Estonian surnames. In the 1920s, and especially in the 1930s, the government promoted a nationwide voluntary "surname Estonianization campaign". During the campaign about 200.000 of Estonian citizens chose a new surname to replace their original family name. A smaller part of the people also Estonianized their first name(s) at the same time. The Estonianization of names stopped almost completely after the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia in 1940.

Notable Estonianized names

*Paul Berg → Paul Ariste *Karl August Einbund → Kaarel Eenpalu *Erhard-Voldemar Esperk → Ants Eskola *Hans Laipman →

Ants Laikmaa Ants Laikmaa (5 May 1866, Araste – 19 November 1942, Kadarpiku) was an Estonian painter. Life Ants Laikmaa (until 1935 Hans Laipman) was born at the Paiba farm in Araste, Märjamaa Parish village. He was the 13th child of a poor Estonian fami ...

*Friedebert Mihkelson → Friedebert Tuglas *Kristjan Trossmann →

Kristjan Palusalu Kristjan Palusalu (until 1935 Kristjan Trossmann, – 17 July 1987) was an Estonian heavyweight wrestler and Olympic winner. Palusalu became the first and only wrestler in Olympic history ever to win both the Greco-Roman and freestyle heavy ...

Integration

After the end of the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of Estonia, following the restoration of the country's full independence in 1991, the Estonian government has pursued an "integration policy" (informally referred to as "Estonianisation") that has been aimed at the strengthening of Estonian identity among the population, to develop shared values and "pride in being a citizen of Estonia"; with respect and acceptance of cultural differences among the residents of Estonia.

Education

On 14 March 2000 the

Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Cons ...

adopted “State Programme “Integration in Estonian society 2000-2007". Main areas and aims of the integration established by the program are linguistic-communicative, legal-political and socio-economical. The Program has four sub programs: education, the education and culture of national minorities, the teaching of Estonian to adults and social competence. The aim of the sub-programs is to be achieved via the learning of the Estonian language by children and adults.

References

External links

Database of Estonianised Surnames 1919–1940 (at National Archives)
{{Cultural assimilation, sp=ize Social history of Estonia Estonian language Cultural assimilation