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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Finnish : topographic name for someone living near a border, from raja ‘boundary’, ‘border’ + the local suffix -la, or an ornamental name from the same elements. The surname was first recorded in the 17th century, and was adopted during the name conversion movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is common in central and western Finland.

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