Finnish
names are used in the country of Finland in northern Europe.
Aalto FinnishFrom Finnish
aalto meaning
"wave". A famous bearer was Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976).
Hämäläinen FinnishDerived from the region in southern Finland known as Häme, also called Tavastia.
Järvinen FinnishDerived from Finnish
järvi meaning
"lake". It is one of the most common surnames in Finland.
Karjalainen FinnishDerived from Finnish
Karjala meaning
"Karelia". Karelia is an area on the border between Finland and Russia.
Kinnunen FinnishPossibly derived from the Finnish dialectal word
kinni meaning
"animal skin, fur", borrowed from Swedish
skinn.
Korhonen FinnishPossibly from archaic Finnish
korho meaning
"deaf, hard of hearing". This is the most common surname in Finland.
Kulmala FinnishFrom Finnish
kulma meaning
"corner" with the suffix
-la indicating a place.
Laukkanen FinnishFrom a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish
laukka meaning
"canter, gallop".
Linna FinnishMeans
"castle" in Finnish. A famous namesake is Väinö Linna (1920-1992), Finnish author of
The Unknown Soldier.
Nurmi FinnishMeans
"meadow, field" in Finnish. It was the surname of the athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973).
Ranta FinnishOriginally indicated a person who lived near the shore, from Finnish
ranta meaning
"shore, beach".
Takala FinnishMeans
"(dweller in the) back", probably denoting someone who lived in a remote area, from Finnish
taka.
Turunen FinnishFrom Finnish
turku meaning
"marketplace" or the Finnish city of
Turku (derived from the same word).
Venäläinen FinnishMeans
"Russian" in Finnish. This name was originally used by the ethnic Finns who lived on the Russian side of the border.
Virtanen FinnishDerived from Finnish
virta meaning
"stream". This is the second most common surname in Finland.