A Country by Any Other Name

The country we know as Finland is actually named Suomi. The Finnish language is also called Suomi. I asked some Finns (Suomalaisia) where the country got its name. One theory is that suo is the word for swamp and Finland has a lot of swamps and lake areas--hence, Suomi. Another theory is that the name is derived from some Baltic language or the Sami language. Apparently, the name Finland is derived from a Latin phrase meaning end of the earth. My granddaughter, Rachel, tells people she visited her grandparents in Fiddleland last year. And my granddaughter, Eve, says she received a letter from her grandma in Friendland. Take your pick. It's all the same to me. We are living in the country south of Norway, East of Sweden, and on the western border of Russia, just north of Estonia.