Save Type Surname (from location) Usage Finnish Pronounced Pron. /ˈsilː.ˌɑn.ˌpæː/ [key·simplify] Meaning & History Means "bridgehead" in Finnish, an area around the end of a bridge. Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888-1964) was a Finnish author and the first Finnish writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.