Name days have been a part of Finnish culture since the 18th century. Today, there are four official name day calendars for different population groups in Finland: Finns, Finnish Swedes, Orthodox and Sámi.
The University of Helsinki maintains the name day lists of the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking populations. The lists are currently reviewed every five years. The primary criterion for selecting new names in a calendar is their frequency.
The Finnish Orthodox Church has a calendar of Church saints which also functions as the Orthodox name day calendar. The Sámi name day calendar was compiled by Professor Pekka Sammallahti.
The University Almanac Office also published name day lists for cats, dogs and horses in 2011.
The University Almanac Office provides calendar publishers with all of these name day lists and, for example, the official name day list from Sweden.
