Rename OR-7

5 finalists for Oregon's wandering wolf, and some also-rans

The five finalists are in and the suggested names for Oregon's wandering wolf, OR-7, come from as far away as Finland.

The 2 1/2 -year-old male gray wolf -- known now by the designation bestowed by state biologists -- gained worldwide attention for his 730-mile trek across Oregon from Wallowa County to territory around Crater Lake.

The contest is sponsored by Oregon Wild, a Portland-based conservation group. A panel of staff members picked the names. Here they are from more than 250 submissions:

Arthur (Arttu) from a 13-year-old in Finland.

Journey from a 7-year-old girl in Mountain Home, Idaho, and an 11-year-old in Dickinson, N.D.

Lupin from a 13-year old girl in La Grande.

Max from a sixth-grade class in North Clackamas, a second-grader in St. Paul Minn., and a second-grader in Eugene.

Takota from a 14-year-old boy born in Oregon now living in Oklahoma. He's half Shoshone and Takota is his middle name, meaning "friend."

The names will be posted to the Oregon Wolves Facebook Page, where the vote will remain open until the New Year. Oregon Wild will then announce the winner.

The group's staff also mentioned these "notable" names that didn't make the cut: Myeengan (suggested twice with two different spellings), "wolf" in Ojibway; Zev, "wolf" in Hebrew; Whoseafraida, the first submission in the contest that came from a 9-year-old girl in Northeast Oregon near wolf territory.