[Surname] Re: Laitinen (Finnish)
My guess would have been that the surname Laitinen comes from Finnish laita, 'edge', but the book Sukunimet tells me that Laitinen has its roots in a Germanic given name. This name had the forms Laitha, Laitu, Lethu, Ledi and Leda in Old High German, and Ledhe and Lete in Old Swedish.