Mäkäräinen is a
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
originating in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, derived from the given name Makar (
Makarios Macarius is a Latinized form of the old Greek given name Makários (Μακάριος), meaning "happy, fortunate, blessed"; compare the Latin ''beatus'' and ''felix''. Ancient Greeks applied the epithet ''Makarios'' to the gods.
In other la ...
). Although the surname is common in
Kainuu, particularly in
Puolanka,
Ristijärvi and
Paltamo, it is relatively rare elsewhere in Finland. All total, 1,060 people, living or dead have had Mäkäräinen as their surname at some point in time.
A variant form of the surname outside of Finland can be found without the
diacritics: Makarainen.
In addition, the word ''mäkäräinen'' can refer to
black flies in some dialects of
Finnish. The correct word in the literary language is ''mäkärä''.
Notable people with the surname include:
*, Finnish ice hockey player
*, a Finnish shoemaker and "village philosopher", whose home is now a museum in
Herrala,
Hollola, Finland.
*
Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Finnish biathlete
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makarainen
Finnish-language surnames
Patronymic surnames