It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the South Karelia region.

With the merger to Mikkeli, Suomenniemi became part of South Savo region and Eastern Finland with regard to state administration.

[3] The names of Suomenniemi and the nearby lake Suomijärvi refer to 13th century settlers from Finland Proper, who were known as suomalaiset while their homeland was called Suomi.

Nowadays the Finns proper are known as varsinaissuomalaiset, as the term suomalaiset was extended to all Finnic groups of the Swedish realm.

The village was first mentioned in 1544 as Somenemiby as a part of the Lappee parish.