Virtanen (surname)

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Virtanen
Origin
Language(s)Finnish
MeaningDerived from virta ("river, stream")
Region of originFinland
Other names
Variant form(s)Virta

Virtanen (also written as Wirtanen)[1] is a surname originating in Finland (in Finnish, virta, meaning "river", and nen is a surname-enerating suffix), where it is the second most common surname.[2] The surname is the namesake of the "Virtanen type" of Finnish surnames.

Notable people with the surname include:

People with the surname Wirtanen[edit]

Fictional characters[edit]

  • B. Virtanen, lead character of the Ilkka Heilä comic strip of the same name
  • Virtanen (no first name), hero of Tango is my passion by M.A. Numminen
  • Lukas Virtanen, main character of Mark of the Vasirian and subsequent books from the Blackthorn Saga by author Stephanie Denne.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Wirtanen" is an antiquated variant spelling listed at V in Finland (in the Finnish alphabet, the letter W is an archaic variant of V, kept for spelling ancient names). It is mostly found abroad for the descendants of ancient Finnish emigrants (as of March 2010, the Finnish Population Register Center Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine's "Surname search" reported 23600 Virtanen and 254 Wirtanen).
  2. ^ As of November 2011, "Most common surnames"[dead link], Finnish Population Register Center Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine (English version), verkkopalvelut.vrk.fi/Nimipalvelu