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Moilanen is a common Finnish surname of Eastern Savonian origin. The Moilanen families usually have their roots in Kainuu, Karelia and Savonia. But today, the name is widespread everywhere in Finland and among Finnish-speaking minorities in Russia.
The Karelian personal name Moila (a shortened form of Russian Samoila itself a form of Samuel ) + the surname suffix -nen. Recorded regularly since the 16th century in eastern Savonia and then most abundantly in North Karelia the northwest shore of Ladoga Kainuu Ostrobothnia and Lapland. It belongs to the oldest Savonian hereditary surnames which date back perhaps to 13th century.
One of the progenitors of the Moilanen family is Antti (Reissu-Antti) Moilanen, who came to Puolanka beach in the late 1500s. The Moilanen family has ancient Eastern roots. Moilanen appeared in written sources in the early 1500s, when eight households were recorded in Savo's oldest land register in 1541. At that time, there was no family anywhere else in Finland. Most of the Moilanen family lived in the former parishes of Sääminki and Rantasalmi, and some families also lived in Vesulahti in the direction of present-day Mikkeli.
However, Savonia is probably not the original home of the Moilanen family, but the roots of the surname must be sought in the direction of Karelia, where the origin of the Savonians also lies. From about 1000 onwards, Savo was inhabited from the northwestern coast of Lake Ladoga. In Ladoga-Karelia, the ancient "ancestral places" of the family are Sortavala, Hiitola, Jaakkima, Ruskeala and Impilahti. However, it is not known whether the settlers in the family who travelled to Savo bore the surname, or whether it became established in use only later. At least they brought with them the Karelian origin of the name. The name of the ending may also have been given in Savo. The formation of Moilanen's name as a surname probably took place no later than the 1300s, "in the twilight of the Middle Ages".
Hyvin yleinen sukunimi Suomessa.