Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this form and I am unsure if this should be under culture and cuisine but was wondering if someone could help me anyway . I am a quarter Finnish on my paternal side which means I have inherited my grandfather's surname of Kujansuu. I have recently become interested in the genealogy of this side of the family and thought the first clue might be in my surname. I have read that you can usually tell if a surname is from west or east Finland by the suffix but my surname has none of the suffixes listed on the website. Can someone tell me where my surname is from? The only other information I have is that my grandfather said they came from Parkano, Finland but I have no proof to back this up and was hoping finding out if it's a west Finnish surname would validate this.
Thanks a ton! -John
Odd Finnish Surname?
Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
Hi John,
I don't know about the name, but on Facebook there's a great group called Finnish Genealogy. You might want to ask there.
But at least Hiski (http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski?fi) finds a Kujansuu family in Parkano in the middle of the 1800s. Might be your ancestors.
I don't know about the name, but on Facebook there's a great group called Finnish Genealogy. You might want to ask there.
But at least Hiski (http://hiski.genealogia.fi/hiski?fi) finds a Kujansuu family in Parkano in the middle of the 1800s. Might be your ancestors.
Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
Why don't you believe your grandfather then? Who would lie about coming from Parkano anyway...JohnKujansuu wrote:The only other information I have is that my grandfather said they came from Parkano, Finland but I have no proof to back this up and was hoping finding out if it's a west Finnish surname would validate this.
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Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
Thanks for the replies, and it's not that I don't believe my grandfather it's just that I would like confirmation that his father lived there.
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Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
Well, not all the names "fit" the pattern. Up to 1920 was it, a person didn't even have to have a surname. And at times names were adopted, either for necessity, like soldiers given names, or to "sound fancy" picking up latin or greek endings to show off being educated, or then in the "fennomania" phase of the turn of the century and later on, when people picked up "finnish" surnames.
Ok, so your name isn't that peculiar - it is a descriptive name that may or may not have been a house name, or someone could have picked it up as it sounded nice. "Mr Alleymouth"
(As in mouth (beginning/entrance) of an alley, cf Joensuu lit. "river mouth")
Ok, so your name isn't that peculiar - it is a descriptive name that may or may not have been a house name, or someone could have picked it up as it sounded nice. "Mr Alleymouth"
(As in mouth (beginning/entrance) of an alley, cf Joensuu lit. "river mouth")
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
Something wicked this way comes."
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Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
You can do a paid genealogy request to the local parish for them to look at the church books.JohnKujansuu wrote:Thanks for the replies, and it's not that I don't believe my grandfather it's just that I would like confirmation that his father lived there.
Re: Odd Finnish Surname?
Do you have any more info (birth date or year, great grandfather's first name, family members, time when he emigrated)?
There are Kujansuus in western Finland, so Parkano sounds like a plausible place.
I guess you know what the name means, "the mouth of the alley"?
There are Kujansuus in western Finland, so Parkano sounds like a plausible place.
I guess you know what the name means, "the mouth of the alley"?