While others have already mentioned that English, German, Japanese, etc. names form as they do, I'll add Finnish names to that list.

Last names are generally Finnish words with "nen" or "lä/la" added in the end. "Lä/la" means "a place where something is". For example, a name Seppälä would mean "A place in which you can find seppä" (And seppä means "smith"). This is the list of 9 most common last names in Finland at the moment.

1: Virtanen (Virta means "stream")
2: Korhonen (Korho means "dry hay" though it is old word. Had to look it up.)
3: Nieminen (Niemi means "peninsula")
4: Mäkinen (Mäki means "hill" or "ascent")
4: Mäkelä (Also based on word mäki. "A place where is a hill")
5: Hämäläinen (Means "someone from Häme" which is a place, named after Hämä, a pagan goddess whose name also apparently means "land" though is so old word that it took some serious googling to find out)
6: Laine (Laine means "wave")
7: Koskinen (Koski means "rapid")
8: Heikkinen (Heikki is a common first name. It is Finnish version of Heinrik, which comes from german Haimrich, which... I don't know.)
9: Järvinen (Järvi means "lake")

You see a pattern? Yes, it's that simple. Pick pretty much any old finnish word meaning some pagan deity or something nature or agriculture related, add "nen" to the end and the chances are it is someone's last name.



The place names are a bit more complex to explain but still simple.

This place where I live now is called Lehmihaka. Lehmä means "cow" and haka means both "hook" and a fence to keep something in some area. Lehmihaka means a fenced area in which you keep cows (kinda flattering, eh?). You can guess that there used to be a lot of cows in this area. The suburb in which Lehmihaka is is called "Havukoski", which is from Havu (branch of evergreen, twig) and Koski (rapid). Nearby is a rapid with evergreens on the shore.

This whole city is called Vantaa and I don't know if that means anything (probably) but before that, this was just called "Helsingin maalaispitäjä" as that means "countryside municipio of Helsinki (bigger city next to this one". The center of Vantaa is Tikkurila. Tikkuri is old finnish word for squirrel's hide. (and 'la' addition. "Place where are squirrelhides"). It was a common trading post when people used squirrels' hides as money.