Kven People - Name

Name

The term Kven has been continuously in use in Norway, from the Middle Ages up to the present age, to describe descendants of Finnish speaking people who immigrated to Northern Norway from the 16th century up to World War II.

The origin of the term Kven is disputed as is the fate of the medieval Kvens. There is little evidence that modern Kvens are direct descendants of Kvenland mentioned in a few ancient Norwegian and Icelandic sources. As a result of that Norway signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 1999 the term kven became for the first time an official name, the name of Finnish descendants with a long history in Norway that views themselves as a member of that particular protected ethnic minority group of Finnish descendants. There is a theory among some academic groups that due to the discrimination and suppression by the Norwegian authorities the term Kven became derogatory in the late 19th century. Therefore, many Kvens, preferred to be called 'suomalaiset' (finns). But with the revitalization of the Kven culture in the 1970s Kvens themselves started using the term. However, even in the 1990s there was a debate whether the Norwegian terms 'finne', 'finsk', or 'finskætted' (respectively a Finnish person, Finnish, and of Finnish origin) should be used instead. However, today the term Kven is accepted and used for example in the name of the Kven organization in Norway (Norske Kveners Forbund).