Teppo is a
male
Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...
Finnish name that originated as a diminutive of the name
Tapani.
It is an uncommon first name, and is derived from ''
Stefanos'', a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
name that means, roughly translated, "laurel" or "crowned" or "crown". The name made its way through the Russian name Stefan (nickname Stepan, or Stjopa) to
Karelian Stjoppi, from where it came to the Finnish version — Teppo. However, some claim the name's origin is the Greek name ''
Teofilus'' (God's friend) or ''
Teodor'' (God's gift).
In
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, Teppo was the name of a
pagan god
A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a god or goddess, or anything ...
, "Travel-Teppo", who was prayed to in order to guide the way and bless
travel
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...
s. In the 19th century, it began to be used as a normal first name. The most popular time for the name Teppo was from 1960–1980. In 2005, 3841 men had been given the name Teppo.
Teppo can also be a
last name
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
, but it is rare.
People named Teppo
*
Teppo Hauta-Aho, double bassist and composer
*
Teppo Felin, professor at
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
*
Teppo Marttinen (born 1997), Finnish footballer
*
Teppo Numminen
Teppo Kalevi Numminen (born July 3, 1968) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for Tappara and TuTo of the SM-liiga and the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars ...
, professional hockey defenceman
*
Teppo Rastio
Teppo Edvard Rastio (15 February 1934 – 29 May 2023) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga for Lukko and Ilves. Rastio was inducted to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.
Rastio was also known as a footba ...
, retired professional ice hockey player
*
Teppo Ruohonen, Finnish singer
*
Teppo Turkki, writer and researcher
As a surname
*, singer-songwriter
{{given name
Finnish masculine given names
Masculine given names
Finnish-language surnames