From earlier *Vihanta(järvi); *Vihanne (as the name of a lake), possibly derived from or akin to vihanta(“verdant”), or from viha(“hate; wrath; war”), possibly through pre-Christian given names.[1]
The internal locative cases (inessive, illative and elative) are used with this place name when referring to a location; for example, "in Vihanti" is Vihannissa.
^ Sirkka Paikkala, editor (2007), Suomalainen paikannimikirja [Book of Finnish Place names] (in Finnish), Helsinki: Karttakeskus, Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus, →ISBN