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Why not? It is a common name. Like John or James.

Fair enough, I was just checking.

@Kip, I can't imagine that Finland has a high number of immigrants, let alone Hispanic ones (think of the cold). Except for maybe Russians. I'm sure I will be corrected if I am wrong.

Right. There is practically no Hispanic population in Finland. Just us Finns and Swedes and Russians.

My sister has a Finnish name. I'm not sure if it's common or not in Finland, though; it certainly wouldn't be for a Māori (long story).

Just a random fact.

(EDIT: Wow, you people type quickly.)

Murihiku. There is a strange connection between Finnish and Hawaiian language. They both are pronounced the same. Both languages have a collection of vowels, and they are pronounced precisely the same way.

Take Kealakekua. There is no difference. We know how it sounds.

@ Murihiku, I would love to hear that story one day.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing with Japanese and Māori (another Eastern Polynesian language, like Hawaiian). All the vowels are the same; and even though Māori has fewer consonants than Japanese does, most of them are pronounced the same way, too. I had no trouble learning Japanese pronunciation. Conversely, Japanese people can pronounce "Murihiku" perfectly.

I might PM you my sister's name and ask if it's common in Finland or not, if that's okay. I couldn't tell from a Google search.

Mooms, I'll PM you as well.

Yes. These Japanese k or kk sounds are exactly the same in Finnish, and I think also in several Polynesian languages. Strange connection.

P.S. Regarding your nickname, I simply say it Mu-ri-hi-ku. As simple as that.

Yeah, I always thought my name was simple to pronounce. English speakers sometimes have difficulty with the Māori "r", though. It's virtually identical to the Japanese "r" (they just tend to speak more softly than we do).

I think it's simple to pronounce, but then, I've only said it to myself and my computer screen. You might hear me and say that I'm saying it all wrong.

Is the Māori "r" close to the Scottish "r"?

^ I had to look that one up. According to Wikipedia there are a few different "r" sounds in Scots English: these include the distinctive trilled/rolled "r"; and the alveolar tap, which is the same as the Māori "r". Apparently, the alveolar tap is used in quite a few languages, including Norwegian (e.g., Norge).

Google never ceases to amaze me.

Thank you. Now I can hear it correctly.

I assume that a consonant transcribed 'r' is a tap-- usually it's either tapped or trilled.

There are a good number of cases where it's pronounced like in English, or as a uvular, or is a fricative instead of a sonorant, or something even weirder, though.

Sciuridae! Nice to see you again. Feel likes ages since I've seen you last.

You've been busy on this forum today, it seems.

10 more to go to 9000! (Lord, nine thousand. What have I done in the days between?)