It so happens that a German surname can be recognized immediately. They are probably the most characteristic of the descendants of the ancient Germans. Despite the large number of peoples speaking Germanic languages, in Germany and Austria a generic name rarely has a foreign origin, which distinguishes the Germans from the English. Meanwhile, the process of their formation in these countries was not much different from similar ones in other parts of Europe.
In the Middle Ages, Germany was different high degree feudal fragmentation, and this state of affairs persisted until the century before last. The abundance of small kingdoms and principalities sometimes played into the hands of the local nobility: here, as Klyuchevsky put it, other states were accustomed to seeing heads waiting for foreign crowns while these crowns had lost their heads.
The princes from these lands already had surnames: they began to spread from the 12th century, primarily among them.
Another feature of Germany was the abundance of cities. These cities had a special status, having at one time won their independence from the lords and becoming not an object, but a subject of law. Migrants and peasants who fled from their masters flocked there, because living in the city for a year gave freedom. Crafts flourished, and after the name a person always named his profession.
When introducing themselves, rural residents more often used the name of the area where they lived or were born. This left its mark on German anthroponymy, which was consolidated in documents relatively late - this happened in 1875.
Varieties and their origin
The structure of German family names does not differ from that of other peoples. They have the same etymology as other European ones, the only difference is in the degree of prevalence of one category or another. They are as follows:
- registered;
- nicknames;
- professional;
- toponymic.
German and Austrian surnames are characterized by the predominance of the last two groups, which sharply distinguishes them from French and English, and even more so from Scandinavian ones, where patronymics are the first in the list, or even the only ones. In Germany they usually have a possessive suffix -s at the end: Peters, Jens, but they can also coincide with the name, for example, Werner, Joseph, Ebel.
Nickname surnames are often neutral: they rarely express a negative attitude towards a person, but can emphasize his characteristic features: Weiss (blond), Krause (curly), Fuchs (sly fox), Klyan (short), Hartman ( strong man), Schwartz (brunet), Steil and Steiler (cool), Lange (long).
Cook, miller and carpenter
A large percentage of Germans have professional surnames. The professions from which they originated are not only urban, but also rural. In any case, the most common surname in Germany, Müller, reveals its bearer as a descendant of a miller.
Austria stands out here: the surname Gruber comes first there, meaning a person who digs something. It is unlikely that we are talking about graves, but rather about mining workings.
If you wish, you can even study the guild structure of a medieval city by analyzing German surnames and their meanings:
- Schmidt - blacksmith;
- Schneider - tailor;
- Fisher - fisherman;
- Richter - judge;
- Becker - baker;
- Wagner - carriage maker;
- Köhler - coal miner;
- Zimmerman - carpenter;
- Schultz is the headman.
There are a lot of such surnames in Russia; they came here along with migrants during tsarist times.
Toponymy in German surnames
At first, the nobility called themselves this way, and the naming was based on the name of the property. It was usually preceded by the prefix “von” or “von der”.
Later they began to introduce themselves this way simple people primarily residents of rural areas.
In Germany there is still a tradition of the given name, and it is enshrined in civil law. If a person is introduced not only by his last name, but also by the place where he lives, in official letters this is indicated.
Such a named name turned into a surname, although after the latter was fixed, the tradition did not die.
Often such surnames are two-part and may have the endings -feld, -berg, -burg, -hof and others, which indicates ownership or characteristic feature the area where a person's ancestors came from. So, "Schwarzenegger" does not mean "black plowman"(blacks were not brought to Austria), and the Schwarzenegger area is a mountain range that abounds in this country.
Among such generic names we can recall the following: Rosenberg, Stolberg, Habsburg, Eichenwald, Braunfels, Hardenberg, Meyendorff, Richthofen and others.
It must be said that in Germany and Austria the prefix “von” is now rare, and in Austria it is completely prohibited, like any titles. Those who wished at one time made the title part of the surname, and it turned out to be two-part.
Distribution and regional features
If we talk about the grammatical category of gender, then it is not characteristic of German surnames; women's surnames do not differ from men's. This rule is violated in Bavaria - there the genus can be designated in oral speech ending “-in” for women, but this is not reflected in the documents. Before the surname in oral communication and letters, standard addresses are used - "Herr" for a man, "Frau" for a married woman and "Fräulein" for a girl.
The surname can be a pair, but nothing more.
Top 10 German surnames
If you look at the statistics, the most common in Germany are the following German surnames in the list:
Austrian ones are somewhat different from German ones:
Regional differences
Long feudal fragmentation could not but affect the language, or more precisely, the languages of Germany. Linguists highlight three dialect zones on the territory of that country - upper (southern), middle and lower. Dialects despite dominance literary language, are still used in everyday life.
German, Austrian and Swiss family names differ according to several criteria:
All this applies not to specific anthroponyms, but to statistical data on them, which is very important, given internal migration.
Orthographically, surnames reflect differences in the phonetics of different dialects in the past. Thus, the surname Müller is of Bavarian origin, and Möller is of Low German origin. Miller is more typical for Swabia. Meyer and Meier are distributed evenly throughout Germany, and Mayer and Maier in the south.
The same profession could have different names in the regions. So, the analogue of the Russian surname Goncharov in the north will be Pötter, in the center - Töpfer, in the west - Aulner, and in the south - Hafner. The carriage maker in the western regions was called Wagner, and in the eastern regions - Stellmacher.
In Swabia a high proportion of surnames derived from nicknames, in Switzerland they like endings “-ing”; along the North Sea coast there is a higher proportion of patronymic generic names. A feature of the eastern regions of Austria and Germany are the endings “-itz” and “-itz”, historically dating back to the Slavic population of these areas in the Middle Ages, but now considered “ours”.
Real and fictional celebrities
When it comes to German surnames, the first thing that comes to mind is Nazi Germany and its “four Gs”. In fact, there are both G and H, as well as many other interesting things.
For example, Adolf Hitler's ancestors had slightly different names, and the spelling Hitler was the result of a spelling error in the parish register. This was not the first time, since the German Ordnung apparently did not take root in the village of Ranshofen. The documents record people with the surnames Hiedler, Hitlaer and Hütler, and it comes from the profession of a forester.
The ancestor of the Bavarian Heinrich Himmler (spelled Himmler) was probably a heavenly messenger - this is exactly the meaning of this surname. Despite the fact that the surname can be called beautiful, the descendants of the Reichsführer SS are very shy about it, like others who once belonged to leaders of the Third Reich.
The family name of Reichsmarshall Goering was written as Göring and had regional analogues in Germany: Hering, Göhring and Gering, and these words have different meanings. Where ö is written, we are talking about a herring, and when written e, we are talking about a low person.
The surname Goebbels also appears in two versions: Goebbels (that was the name of the propagandist) and Göbbels, but what it means is not entirely clear.
The ancestor of Rudolf Hess came from the corresponding land - Hesse.
With the heroes of the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” everything is quite simple, especially with Muller. As for Schellenberg, he has a typical toponym, like Kaltenbrunner, whose ancestors apparently lived near some cold spring in Austria.
But Stirlits do not exist at all. Judging by the suffix, this name is from eastern Austria, but there are two types of Stieglitz - Stiglitz and Stiegliz. This surname is rare, translated from Slavic nicknames, its meaning is goldfinch.
Of the holders of German family names in Russia, we can mention the famous Alisa Freundlich (“friendly”), Alfred Koch, whose ancestor was a cook, and Alexey Miller, a descendant of a Swabian miller.
In addition to the Germans, Ashkenazi Jews also have such surnames, who received them once in Germany.
In Israel, they are often eliminated by translating them into Hebrew or writing down something that sounds similar. But in Russia and other countries, Ashkenazi names are preserved.
Attention, TODAY only!
Starting with last name Gafferber The material is given without indicating the German spelling of surnames. In other words, the third column disappears. This is due to the fact that at present and in the foreseeable future I do not have the opportunity to concentrate on working on the names of Russian Germans. If desired, anyone interested can try to restore the German spelling of a particular surname, relying on printed sources or Internet resources. I hope in the future I will be able to implement this science project in the form in which it was originally conceived.
In the table below, the names of the areas are given in the forms at the time of collecting the material.
Abbreviated areas:
Alm - Alma-Ata, Dzham - Dzhambul, Kar - Karaganda, Kus - Kustanay, Ts - Tselinograd
Last name in Russian spelling Areas where met Shaab Kus Shaad C Schaadt Alm Shaas Kus Schaaf Jam Scraper Kus Chabert C Shabrik Kar Schaerman Kar, Kus, Ts Shaibel Jam Schaible Alm Shaidman Kus Scheidt Alm Shaidyman Kus Scheierman Kar Shireman Kus Scheifler Kar Shalman C Shalo Alm Shawl Kus Schalbourg Alm Chamber C Schamberger Kus Shamne Jam Shander Jam Shandra Kar Shank Jam Sharkovsky C Schartner Kar Scarf Alm Schattschneider Alm Schaubert C Schauer Kar Schauerman C Shaurman Jam, Ts Shaf C Schafert Kus Shafner Kus, Ts Saffron Alm Schaff Kar Schatz Kus Shaerman C Schwaab Kar Schwab Kar, Kus, Ts Schwabauer Jam Shvabaur Kus Schwabenland Kar Schwabecher Kar Schwagerus Alm Schweigerdt Kar Schweigert Kus Schweier Kus Schweitzer Alm Schwamm C Schwan Jam Schwartz Jam, Kus, Ts Schwarzkop Kus Schwarzkopp Kus Schwarzkopf Jam, Kar, Ts Schwebel Kus Schweigerdt C Schweid Kus Schweidt Kus Schweikert Alm Schweir Kus Schweitz Kus Schweitzer Alm Schweckler C Schwemler C Schweng C Schwendt Kus Shvendykh Alm Schwenil Alm Schwenk Kar Centerboard Alm Schwiderik Alm Schwin Jam Schwindt Kus, Ts Sheva Alm Chevalier Alm Sheveleva Alm Schedel Kar Scheidemann Kus Scheuermann Kar Scheiknecht Kar Shane Jam, Kar Shane Alm Sheinberg C Shaning Kus Shanefish Kar Shafer Kus Sheifner Kus Shek Kus Shekk Kar, Kus Schelenberg Kus Shelin Kar Shelle Alm Sheller Kar, Kus Shel Kar, Kus, Ts Shemberger Kar Shemp Alm Schoenberg Kus Schoenberger Jam, Kus Shengals Alm Shengel Kar Shengof Kar Schendel Jam Shender Kus Shendrich C Shener Kus Schönerstedt C Schenk Kar Schenke C Shenkovsky C Shenrok Kus Chance C Shentur Alm Shenfeld Kar, Kus Schoenfeldt Jam Etymologies of some surnames
Basic abbreviations: goth. – Gothic, Old English – Old English (the same as the Anglo-Saxon language), Old German. – Old High German, Old Saxon. – Old Saxon, Old Scand. – Old Scandinavian, N.-German. – Low German, German. – German, see – see (follow the link), Middle German. – Middle High German, Middle German. – Middle Low German.
Schaad, Schaadt. German Schaad, Schaadt, Schade, Schad. From a nickname from Middle German. schade– “the one who causes harm, the harming enemy”; “harmful, harmful”, “damage, loss, destruction, evil”. Schade occurs 6985 times, Schad – 1912, Schadt – 906, Schaad – 265, Schaadt – 195, Schaade – 97.
Schaff, Schaff, Schaff. German Schaaf, Schaf, Schaff. From a nickname from Middle German. schaf- “sheep”. This could be the name of a shepherd, or it could be a figurative comparison of a person with a given domestic animal. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schaaf occurs 4733 times, Schaff – 222, Schaf – 152, Schaaff – 138.
Chabert, Chabert. German Schaber, Schabert. From a nickname to designate a profession from Middle Eastern German. schaben- “scratch, grind, engrave, polish, shave smooth.” This verb can indicate different professions - barber, copper engraver, one who works with a fabric scraper, etc. Last name Schabert developed from a surname Schaber. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schaber occurs 752 times, Schabert – 303.
Schaerman, Scheierman, Scheierman, Schauerman, Schauerman, Schaerman, Scheuerman. German Scheuermann. 1. From the job title to -mann from Middle-European German schiure- “barn” for the caretaker of the master’s barn. 2. Education on -mann from the surname according to the characteristics of the place of residence Scheuer - from Middle-century German. schiure– “barn” for someone who lives in a barn or next to a barn. 3. Or education on -mann from toponyms Scheuer(in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria), Scheuern(in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Bavaria). Numerous variations of this surname in Russian spelling among Russian Germans are probably explained by dialect differences and difficulties of transmission by means of the Russian language. In addition, last names Schauerman, Schauerman can be considered as formations on -mann from last name Schauer- from the title of the position from Middle German. schouwære- “a caretaker of something.” In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Scheuermann occurs 2445 times, Scheiermann – 314, Schauermann – 180, Scheirmann – 5.
Shaydyman, Shaydman, Shaydeman. German Scheidemann. From the name of a person’s position from Middle German. scheideman- "judge". In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Scheidemann occurs 396 times, Scheidmann – 36.
Schwaab, Schwab. German Schwab, Schwabe, Schwaab. 1. Goes back to Middle German. Swap, Swab(e)- “Swabian” (a resident of the historical region of Swabia in southwestern Germany, in the upper reaches of the Rhine and Danube, and also speaking a Swabian dialect). 2. A nickname for someone who has connections (for example, trade) with Swabia. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schwab occurs 9842 times, Schwabe – 4115, Schwaab – 585.
Schwabauer, Schwabaur. German Schwabauer. 1. The surname arose by adding from Schwab(“Schwab”, see Schwaab, Schwab) + Bauer("peasant"). This could be the name of a peasant from Swabia. This etymological version is confirmed by the presence of the surname Schwabbauer, in which consonant fusion b did not happen at the junction of the component parts (or it did, but was not reflected in the letter). 2. In some cases, it can go back to naming a person at the place of his previous residence Schwabau(Schwabau is now part of the municipality of Straden in the Austrian state of Styria). In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schwabauer occurs 264 times.
Schweigerdt, Schweigert, Schweigerdt, Schweikert. German Schweigert, Schweikert. All these surnames go back to the Old German personal name Swindger(from ancient German. swind"strong" + gēr"a spear"). A number of surnames come from this name - Schweiger, Schweigert, Schweighard, Schweighar(d)t, Schweikart, Schweikert, Schwickert, Schwieger. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schweikert occurs 1144 times, Schweigert – 1041, Schweigerdt – 9.
Schwarzkopf, Schwarzkop, Schwarzkopp. German Schwarzkopf, Schwarzkopp, Schwarzkop. From the nickname of a man with black hair, literally "black head". Surnames Schwarzkop, Schwarzkopp contain in the second part a Low German dialect variant Kop(p) words Kopf("head"). In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schwarzkopf occurs 2051 times, Schwarzkopp – 25, Schwarzkop – 3.
Schweng, Schwenk. German Schweng, Schwenk. From a person's nickname, which characterizes his gait. From Middle German. swenke, swenken- “swing back and forth.” In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schwenk occurs 2659 times, Schweng – 39.
Shane, Shayna. German Schön, Schöner. Shane- from a person’s nickname from Middle German. schon(e)- “beautiful, magnificent, brilliant, bright, white, wonderful.” Surname Shane may be a dialectal variant of the surname Schöner, which a) is either a patronymic of -er from the surname explained above Schön, b) or by naming the person at his previous place of residence at -er from common toponyms Schöna, Schönau. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schön occurs 8159 times, Schöner – 1301.
Shek, Shekk. German Scheck, Schöck. From a person’s nickname from Middle German. schëcke- “tight-fitting, striped or quilted, belt, tailcoat, cassock” for the one who wore these things or sewed them. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Scheck meets Scheck times, Schöck – 421.
Shelle, Chelle. German Schelle, Schell, Schöll. 1. From the nickname from Middle German. schël, schëllic– “hot-tempered, excited, wild; noisy, extravagant, crazy, frenzied." 2. From the nickname from Middle German. schëlle“bell, bell” for the fact that they were worn on clothes or for the one who made them. 3. From a derivative from Middle German. schël- “rogue, swindler.” In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schell occurs 3449 times, Scholl – 973, Schelle – 652.
Sheinberg, Schoenberg. German Schönberg, Schöneberg. 1. From the name of a person at the previous place of residence from toponyms repeatedly found in Germany, Austria, Poland Schönberg, Schöneberg. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schönberg occurs 1581 times, Schöneberg – 809.
Schenk, Schenke. German Schenck, Schenk, Schenck. From the nickname of a person based on his occupation from Middle-European German. schenke- “pouring servant, cupbearer”, more broad meaning- “the owner pouring wine, beer.” In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schenk occurs 10255 times, Schenke – 1308, Schenck – 648.
Schoenfeld, Schoenfeldt. German Schönfeld, Schönfeldt. From naming a person at his previous place of residence from toponyms Schönfeld, Schönfelde, repeatedly found in Germany (Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Thuringia, Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria), Austria and Poland. In the German telephone directory for 1998, the surname Schönfeld occurs 4559 times, Schönfeldt – 764.
SOURCES OF ETYMOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS:
- [Instructions 1974] – Instructions for the Russian transfer of German geographical names / compiled by: V. S. Shirokova; ed. G. P. Bondaruk. – M.: Printing house of the publishing house “Izvestia”, 1974.
- [Moskaluk, 2014] – Moskaluk L.I., Moskaluk G.S. Current state German dialects of the Volga region in Altai // Bulletin of St. Petersburg State University. - Ser. 9. – Issue. 1. – 2014. – pp. 187–203.
- [Filicheva, 2003] – Filicheva N. I. History of the German language. – M.: graduate School, 2003.
- [Schiller 1929] – Schiller F.P. On the influence of war and revolution on the language of the Volga Germans // Scientific notes of the Institute of Language and Literature RANION. M., 1929. – No. 2. – P. 67–87.
- – Bahlow H. Deutsches Namenlexikon. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1985.
- – Dictionary of American family names / edited by Patrick Hanks. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (?) // https://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts
- – Das Digitale Familiennamenwörterbuch Deutschlands // http://www.namenforschung.net/dfd/woerterbuch/liste/
- – Familiennamenbuch/hrsg. von H. Naumann. – 1. Aufl. – Leipzig, 1987.
- – Gottschald M. Deutsche Namenkunde: Mit einer Einführung in die Familiennamenkunde von Rudolf Schützeichel. – 6., durchges. und bibliogr. aktualisierte Aufl. – Berlin; New York: de Gruyter, 2006.
- – Heintze-Cascorbi. Die Deutschen Familiennamen. – 7. Auflage. – Halle (S.), Berlin, 1933.
- – Hellfritzsch V. Familiennamenbuch des sächsischen Vogtlandes. – Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1992.
- – Kleemann S. Die Familiennamen Quedlinburgs und der Umgegend. Qedlinburg: Verlag von H. C. Huch, 1891..
- [L] – Linnartz K. Unsere Familiennamen. 2 Bde. – 3. Auflage. – Bonn, 1958.
- – Luxemburgischer Familiennamenatlas // https://lfa.uni.lu.
- – Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon in 25 Bänden. 9. Auflage. – Mannheim, Wien, Zürich 1971–79.
- – Meyers Großes Universallexikon in 15 Bd. – Mannheim, Wien, Zürich, 1981–86.
- – Kohlheim, Rosa und Volker. Duden, Familiennamen: Herkunft und Bedeutung von 20000 Nachnamen. – 2., völlig neu bearbeitete Aufl. – Mannheim; Leipzig; Wien; Zürich: Dudenverl., 2005.
- – Steub L. Die oberdeutschen Familiennamen. – München: Verlag von K. Oldenbourg, 1870.
- – Stumpp K. Die Auswanderung aus Deutschland nach Rußland in den Jahren 1763 to 1862. – 4. Aufl. – Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland, 1985.
- – Telefonbuch 1998 // http://www.gen-evolu.de
- – Telefonbuch 2002 // http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/Default.aspx
- [V] – VADEMECUM Deutscher Lehr- und Forschungstätten, Stätten der Forschung. – 9. Auflage. – Stuttgart, 1989.
- – Statistics of surnames in Switzerland // http://www.verwandt.ch/karten
- – Zoder R. Familiennamen in Ostfalen. Bd. 1, 2. Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1968.
This article provides a detailed analysis of German surnames. You will learn the history of their origin, as well as the meanings of the most common ones.
History of the origin of German surnames
The history of the origin of German surnames is similar to the origin different surnames other Western European countries. The existence of the first Germanic generic names is associated with their appearance in the west of Germany in the 12th century. Since the west of Germany was the most developed part of the country, the first German surnames went to the feudal lords. In this vein, their origin is similar to the stories of Russia and Europe, in which the nobility, the richest class, also first acquired surnames. And most recently, they appeared among the population of northern Germany in the province of Hanover at the beginning of the 19th century. Thus, we can distinguish the period of their origin - from the 12th to the 19th centuries. It was at this time that most of the German population acquired generic names.
Currently, in German society, the personal name Rufname and the hereditary surname – Familienname are used to designate a person’s name. They don’t use reports, but when addressing people they use:
Frau + first or last name - for women,
Herr + first or last name - for men.
Now we will learn in detail about the process of formation of German surnames and identify their original source.
The emergence of German surnames
All Germanic generic names, according to the history of their origin, are divided into groups. Most German surnames are derived from personal names. For example - Hermann, Walter, Peters, Jacobi, Werner, Jacobi. And the minority came from nicknames that characterized a specific person, because there were no surnames then. Here, for example, is the history of some: Braun - Brown (meaning brown), Neumann - Neumann (meaning black, black-haired), Lange - Lange (meaning long), Krause - Krause (meaning curly), etc. There are German surnames, the origin of which associated with geographical names, names of localities, etc. This method of education is also common in Europe and Russia.
Also, most German surnames come from a profession (occupation):
- from the profession of carpenter - Zimmermann (Zimmermann),
- from the miller - Müller,
- from the profession of a blacksmith - Schmidt,
- from the tailor's craft - Schneider, Schroeder,
- from the type of occupation of the fisherman - Fischer,
- from the weaver's craft - Weber,
It can be noted that the history of the emergence of a significant part of German surnames and the methods of their formation are in many ways similar to the formation of surnames of residents of other countries.
Separately, it should be noted a very interesting situation with German surnames in the Volga German settlements, which dates back to the second half of the 18th century. Then, to German settlers who did not have their own surnames, they were simply assigned en masse, and this process occurred with large errors. Since those times, there have been many completely different Russian spellings of the same German surname. This process of distortion of generic names continued in Soviet time, only here political considerations played the main role.
The most popular German surnames - list:
Schmidt, Müller, Schneider, Fischer, Meier, Weber, Wagner, Becker, Schulz, Hoffmann ), Sch?fer (Schaefer), Koch (Koch), Bauer (Bauer), Richter (Richter), Klein (Klein), Wolf (Wolf), Schr?der (Schroeder), Neumann (Neumann), Schwarz (Schwarz) , Zimmermann (Zimmermann).
Of course, who doesn’t remember the German surname Müller, the most famous even in Russia? Or who doesn’t know the ex-Chancellor of Germany Schröder? Or famous composer Wagner?
In addition to the material in this article, you can get general information about the origin of the surname and the secret.
The most common German surnames are Müller, Schmidt, Schneider, Fischer, Weber, Mayer, Wagner, Becker, Schulz, Hoffman.
In this article I will tell you where the most popular and common surnames come from and what they mean. And also - you will recognize the awkward and very funny surnames that some Germans bear.
Surnames began to appear only in the 9th century, and appeared in Germany in the 12th century. In the 15th century, most of the country's people had already acquired this attribute, but only by 1875 did having a surname become mandatory.
Where did the Germans get their surnames from in the Middle Ages and how did they come up with them?
Most got their last name depending on what they did - what profession they had. These German surnames have survived to this day - this way you can understand who the ancestors of some Germans were in the distant Middle Ages. Of the fifty most popular surnames, 30 come from the names of professions. The most common of them Muller- speaks of how important the miller’s profession was.
Other surnames from this paragraph: Schneider (tailor), Schmidt (blacksmith), Fischer (fisherman), Weber (weaver), Wagner (carriage maker), Becker (baker), Schultz (headman), Richter (judge).
Also, the Germans in those distant times were given surnames - starting from their appearance or character traits. So, now you can often hear such names as Mr. Little ( Klein), Mrs. Big ( Groß). My ENT is a very large and loud man whose last name is Klein, although something with the opposite meaning would suit him.
People were also called by the color of their hair or eyes: Mr. Black ( Schwarz), Mrs. Brown ( Braun). Curly people could be given a surname: Krause. Lefties – Link.
And some were given surnames based on their behavioral qualities: this category includes – Kuhn (brave), Fromm (pious), Gut (good), Böse (evil).
And even: Übel – disgusting, nauseating. Who would like such a surname, huh?
Recently there was a news report from Frau Neid). If translated, it turns out to be Mrs. Envy. That is, her ancestors were envious and they were taken like this and called them for many generations to come. It’s probably a shame... But still, Frau Übel is even more unpleasant.
Other Germans were given surnames based on where they lived. If you live in a mountainous area, call Berger, and if your house is on a plain, then Ebner. According to the same principle, the following surnames arose: Stein(this family is from the stone region), Busch(family from a region densely planted with bushes), Bach(and this one lives by the stream).
Another category of German surnames was given to people based on their origins. This is how surnames appeared - which sound the same as some cities, and even countries. For example, Mr. Hesse- comes from Hessen, and Mr. Bayer– from Bavaria, Pohl- from Poland.
Surnames ending in -bach, -berg, -burg, -dorf, -feld, -hagen, -hausen, -heim, -stein, -thal, -wald also indicated where the person was from.
Among German surnames there are also surnames with the names of animals. The most common of these is the surname Fuchs – which translates as “fox”. It is not known for certain how the first bearer received it. Perhaps he was as cunning as a fox, or perhaps he was red-haired. But there is evidence that says that this surname was also given to hunters. The second most popular surname from the animal world is Hahn (rooster). Perhaps this was the name given to arrogant and proud people, but there is another version - a shortened version of the name Johannes, or maybe people came from the town of Hahn - which is in Germany.
I even imagined: this medieval guy was sitting and handing out names. This is a cool, creative and important profession.
He sits, thinking: oh, today there were 40 Mullers, 30 Schwartzes, 10 Kleins, well, what surname should I give this one... For some reason I don’t like him, his eyebrows are furrowed, his mouth is twisted. Oh, I'm tired of him, go ahead and you'll be Böse. They probably didn’t teach you to smile...
In the picture below you will find the 20 most popular German surnames. Is yours among them?
German surnames: funny options
Among the German surnames, there are some very funny ones, some are ridiculous, and there are some that you definitely won’t envy their owners.
I recently bought a book Kuriose Name: and discovered a world of German surnames that I didn’t even know existed. The authors of the book, Anita and Martin Bubenheim, have been collecting material for their book for many years and have structured the material in a very funny way.
There are so many sections in this book: German surnames denoting parts of the body, and also sounding like some diseases, and a whole bunch of devilish surnames, both delicious and derived from the names of drinks...
Here are some of them:
Busenbaum - tree with breasts, Stolzhirsch - proud deer, Nachtwein - night wine, Droge - drug, Hackfleisch - minced meat, Geist - ghost, Stuhlreiter - chair rider, Bleibinhaus - stay at home, Urlaub - vacation, Fingerlos - fingerless, Mundlos - mouthless , Dämon - demon, Kastrat - castrato, Gutenmorgen - good morning, Leiche - corpse, Mörder - killer, Immertreu - always faithful, Pest - plague, Blaukopf - blue head, Zahnweh - toothache.
Can you imagine a dentist with the last name Toothache? And the teacher kindergarten- Daemon? Well, about Castratus... I’m generally silent 🙄
Here is a small part of weather names from this book:
The most interesting thing is that the vast majority of German surnames were invented before the 16th century, and only a few appeared later. Even such a funny surname as Pinkepank is not a tribute to fashion at all, it also comes from the distant Middle Ages. “Where did pink punks come from in the Middle Ages?” - you object. This is the first thing that comes to mind... It turns out that “Pinkepunk” is the sound that comes from hitting iron with a hammer. Probably, in the distant Middle Ages, in order not to produce thousands of Schmidts, they decided to add variety.
Also, read the review about the Medieval Market - here
What German men's and female names and surnames are popular? Is it possible to name a child McDonald or Bremen in Germany? What did the ancient Germanic names mean and are they still preserved today? It has long been believed that a person’s name serves as a talisman that protects and influences the fate of its bearer. Many people tend to believe this to this day. So what are children called in Germany? Read all about German names and surnames in our article.
Previously, people of the lower class got by with only one name, for example, Heinrich, Anna, Dietrich. This fact is recorded in documents of the past, for example, in church books, contracts, court papers and in literary works of the time.
During the Late Middle Ages, a tendency arose when common name(Rufname) a nickname (Beiname) or surname (Familienname) began to be added. Rufname is the name by which it was preferable to address a person, for example, Heinrich. Beiname is a nickname that a person received depending on his personal qualities, appearance, etc.
Nicknames could have been needed to indicate that out of dozens of people with the name Heinrich, we are talking about the one with curly hair: this is how Heinrich Krause could appear. This step was also important for the city administration and other bureaucrats, again to distinguish citizens from each other.
An important difference between a nickname and a surname was that it was not passed on to subsequent generations. The name could also be added to, transformed from the type of activity of its bearer, the area where he lives, or, again, personal qualities. Surnames are passed down from one generation to another by inheritance. Today it can be argued that surnames, as such, were formed from nicknames.
Names
Conventionally, we can divide German names into two groups - ancient Germanic and foreign-language (Latin and Greek), which came after the spread of Christianity. Names of ancient Germanic origin include, for example, Karl, Ulrich, Wolfgang, Gertrud. Ancient Germanic names consisted, as a rule, of two stems, each of which had its own meaning. Such names were supposed to influence the fate of a person, patronize him and protect him. Ancient documents (750-1080) indicate about 7,000 two-root Germanic names, most of which were masculine.
In the 11th century, such a variety of names came to naught due to the influence of the coming Christianity and the arrival of new, southern European names. The new religion gradually contributed to the fact that German names lost popularity and fell into oblivion.
It is interesting that in ancient Germanic names many roots mean war, battle or weapons.
Examples of bases denoting:
Battle: badu, gund, hadu, hari, hild, wig
Weapons: ekka, ger (spear), isan, ort (point of weapon)
Basics indicating ammunition and protection:
Brun: chest shield
Burg: refuge
Gard: fence
Linta: linden shield
Rand: high shield
Roots meaning characteristics of battle:
Bald: (kühn) brave
Harti: (hart) strong
Kuni: (kühn) brave
Muot: brave
Trud: (Kraft) strength
And signifying the consequences of the battle:
Sigu: (Sieg) victory
Hruod: (Friede) peace
Fridu: (Waffenruhe) truce
Diet: (Natur) nature
Animal world:
Arn: (Adler) eagle
Bero: (Bär) bear
Ebur: (Eber) boar
Hraban: (Rabe) raven
Wolf, wulf: (Wolf) wolf
The original meaning of many names today is difficult to decipher, since some letters of the name were lost over time when connecting the roots. However, by studying ancient names one can undoubtedly discover many interesting cultural and historical details. Unfortunately, today the interpretation of ancient Germanic names is rather generalized. Also, in addition to the mentioned two-root names, there were also some single-root names. Famous among them are, for example, Karl, Bruno and Ernst.
Meanings of some German names:
Heinrich - housekeeper
Wolfgang - the way of the wolf
Ludwig - famous warrior
Wilhelm - reliable helmet
Friedrich - peaceful ruler
Rudolf - nice wolf
With the spread of Christianity, names of Greek and Roman origin were increasingly used rather than those of Germanic origin. In comparison with ancient Germanic names, they lacked the principle of division into two bases. Latin names with Roman origin are quite ordinary in their meaning and do not carry the greatness inherent in ancient Germanic names: Paulus - small, Claudius - lame. Children's names were often chosen depending on how the child was born: Tertiat - the third.
Traditional and beautiful sounding names in their meaning are very unsightly, for example, Claudia is limping. Names that came under Greek influence were more cheerful. Amanda - worthy of love, Felix is happy.
For the last five years, the leading places in the lists of the most popular female and male names are occupied by Mia and Emma among girls, and Ben, Jonas and Luis among boys.
Other trendy female names recent years: Sofia, Anna, Emilia, Marie, Lena, Lea, Amelie, Emily, Lilly, Clara, Lara, Nele, Pia, Paula, Alina, Sarah, Luisa. Popular male names last five years: Leon, Lucas, Maximillian, Moritz, Tom, Tim, Eric, Jannik, Alexander, Aaron, Paul, Finn, Max, Felix.
And the most common names in Germany among the adult population (born between 1980 and 2000) sound completely different. For example, here are the most common male names: Peter, Michael, Wolfgang, Jurgen, Andreas, Stephan, Christian, Uwe, Werner, Hans, Mathias, Helmut, Jorg, Jens.
Female names: Ursula, Sabine, Monica, Susanne, Petra, Birgit, Andrea, Anna, Brigitte, Claudia, Angelika, Heike, Gabriele, Cathrin, Anja, Barbara. These names are not very common among young people and are more likely to be found among representatives of the older generation.
IN German There are not many ways to form a diminutive name. The main ones are: -le, -lein, -chen. For example, in the names Peterle, Udolein, Susannchen. A person can be addressed by a diminutive name within the family circle.
Among friends, at school or university, they often use just the short form of the name, it is more neutral: Klaus from Nikolaus, Gabi from Gabriel, Sussi from Susanne, Hans from Johannes. Usually, short names are formed using the morpheme -i at the end of a word.
Today, it is not uncommon for parents to initially give their child a short form of a name: Toni (instead of the full Antonie) or Kurt (instead of Konrad). In this case, the names obtained in this way are used equally with the original ones. full forms. Usage short forms as independent names was officially permitted from the 19th century. It is noteworthy that short and diminutive names are mostly neuter.
And my last name is too famous for me to mention it!
Just like in many other European countries, in Germany surnames first appeared among the nobility and feudal lords as a sign of belonging to a distinguished family at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Gradually, ordinary, non-noble people also received surnames. As in the Russian language, many surnames go back to designations of professions, types of activity, place of residence and qualities of a person (Kuznetsov, Popov, Volkov, Khoroshkin) or from personal names (Ivanov, Antonov). As for the differences, German surnames, as a rule, do not have feminine or male, in contrast to Russians, where endings and suffixes almost always indicate the gender of the speaker: Kuznetsov - Kuznetsova, Ilyin - Ilyina, Savelyev - Savelyeva. It is worth noting that this was not always the case, and until the beginning of the 19th century in Germany there were special, feminine endings for surnames.
German surnames derived from personal names:
Walter, Hermann, Werner, Hartmann.
Surnames derived from nicknames:
Klein - small
Braun -brown
Neumann - new man
Krause - curly
Lange - long, lanky
Jung - young
Schwarz - black-haired
Stolz - proud
Bart - bearded man
Surnames formed from the names of professions and types of activity:
Müller - miller
Schmidt - blacksmith
Fischer - fisherman
Schneider - tailor, cutter
Wagner - carriage maker
Meyer - manager (of the estate)
Weber - weaver
Hoffman - courtier
Koch - cook
Becker - from German. Bäcker - baker
Schäfer - shepherd
Schulz - headman
Richter - judge
Bauer - peasant, country man
Schröder - tailor
Zimmermann - carpenter
Krüger - potter, innkeeper
Lehmann - landowner
König - king
Köhler - coal miner
Schuhmacher - shoemaker
10 most common surnames and their famous bearers:
Müller Otto Müller (1898 - 1979) - German artist and graphic artist.
Matthias Müller (1953) - head of the VW automaker.
Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (1918 - 2015), German politician (SPD), Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982.
Schneider Romy Schneider (1938 - 1982), Austrian-German actress, recognized for her role in the Sisi film trilogy.
Fischer Helene Fischer (1984) German singer, performer of hits and pop music.
Meyer Friedrich Wilhelm Franz Meyer (1856 - 1935) - German mathematician.
Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (1864 - 1920) German lawyer, economist and co-founder of sociology.
Schulz Axel Schulz (1968) - German boxer.
Wagner Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) was a German composer who wrote the music and libretto for the opera “The Ring of the Nibelung”.
Becker Boris Franz Becker (1967) is a German professional tennis player and Olympic champion.
Hoffman Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776 - 1822) - German lawyer, writer, composer, bandmaster, music critic, artist. Author of the books "The Nutcracker and Mouse King", "Everyday views of the cat Murr."
May I contact you?
When politely addressing a man with "You" they say Herr+(Nachname): Herr Müller When politely addressing a woman with "You" Frau+(Nachname): Frau Müller
When filling out official forms, you are always asked to indicate Vorname and Nachname. You should write your first name in the Vorname field, and your last name in the Nachname field.
In everyday life, the word der Name denotes the surname: “Mein Name ist Müller.”
Interestingly, German law prohibits giving children geographical names (Bremen, London), titles (Prinzessin), trademarks (Coca-Cola), surnames or fictitious names (as is customary, for example, in the USA) as names. But it is allowed give the child up to five names - and only two of them can be written with a hyphen (Anne-Marie).
Also unacceptable are names that are considered immoral and degrading to the child, are considered a religious taboo, or are not names. If the civil registry office refuses to enter the chosen name, the issue will be resolved in court.
Words and expressions:
Das Kind beim Namen nennen - calling a spade a spade
Die Dinge beim Namen nennen - calling a spade a spade
Auf einen Namen hören - respond to a nickname (about animals)
Unter falschem Namen - under someone else's name
Mein Name ist Hase - my hut is on the edge
Natalia Khametshina, Deutsch Online