German surnames: list of male surnames and beautiful German surnames for girls. German surnames for men and women

German surnames began to appear and spread from the 12th century. But only in 1875 they began to be registered and recorded. Since then, every German has a first name (Vorname), sometimes a middle name (Zwischenname) and a surname (Familienname).

Origin of German surnames:

• from the profession
• on behalf of father or mother
• from the nickname (long, curly ...
• from origin (name of village or village)
• from place of residence (name of place of residence)

A huge number of German surnames came from various professions. Therefore, the most popular German surnames are the names of professions that were common in the Middle Ages. For example, the profession of a farmer was so widespread then that it was not very suitable for the role of a surname (Bauer), which would distinguish people from each other. Therefore, this surname takes only 13th place in the list. Farmers then received mainly surnames that came from the names of the villages and villages in which they lived.

Surname examples:

• the German surname Muller (Müller) - is formed from the profession of a miller;
• the German surname Schmidt (Schmidt) - from blacksmithing;
• the German surnames Schneider, Schroeder (Schneider) mean a tailor;
• the German surname Fischer (Fischer) corresponds to the fishing business;
• the German surname Weber (Weber) means weaver;
• The German surname Lehmann means landowner.

There are also many German surnames that are of Slavic origin. These surnames originated in the lands of Sachsen, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the Slavs used to live. Somewhere around 13% of Germans now have Slavic surnames. Surname examples:

Nowak (Polish)

Noack (Serbian)

Also, due to the abundance of Turkish migrants, Turkish surnames are widely used:

By the way, earlier German surnames also had female endings, as in Russian. For example, Müller in- "Melnikov A". These endings persisted until the 18th century, and then disappeared. Sometimes such endings can still be heard in Bavarian German.

List of the most popular German surnames:

1. Müller (miller)
2. Schmidt (blacksmith)
3. Schneider (tailor)
4. Fischer (fisherman)
5. Weber (weaver)
6. Meyer (builder)
7. Wagner (coach)
8. Becker (baker)
9. Schulz (main in the city, village)
10. Hoffmann (profession)
11. Schäfer (shepherd)
12. Koch (cook)
13. Bauer (farmer)
14. Richter (profession)
15. Klein (small)
16. Wolf (wolf)
17. Schröder (Schneider) (tailor)
18. Neumann (new)
19. Schwarz (black)
20. Zimmermann (carpenter)
21. Braun (brown)
22. Krüger (innkeeper)
23. Hofmann (profession)
24. Hartmann (profession)
25. Lange (long)
26. Schmitt (profession)
27. Werner (name)
28. Schmitz (printer)
29. Krause (curly)
30. Meier (builder)
31. Lehmann (profession)
32. Schmid (profession)
33. Schulze (profession)
34. Maier (builder)
35. Kohler (profession)
36. Herrmann (name)
37. Konig (king)
38. Walter (name)
39. Mayer (builder)
40. Huber (profession)
41. Kaiser (Kaiser)
42. Fuchs (fox)
43. Peters (name)
44. Lang (long)
45. Scholz (profession)
46. Möller (profession)
47. Weiß (white)
48. Jung (young)
49. Hahn (rooster)
50. Schubert (shoemaker)

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 of them.

The history of the origin of German surnames

The history of the origin of German surnames is similar to the origin of various surnames in other Western European countries. The existence of the first Germanic generic names is associated with their appearance in the west of Germany and the XII 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 histories of Russia and Europe, in which the richest class also first acquired surnames. And last but not least, they appeared among the population of northern Germany in the province of Hanover at the beginning of the 19th century. Thus, it is possible to distinguish the period of their occurrence - from the XII to the XIX century. 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. Reporting is not used, but when referring to people they use:
Frau + first name 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 primary source.

The emergence of German surnames

All Germanic generic names, according to the history of their occurrence, 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 characterize a particular person, because surnames were still absent at that time. 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, the name of the area, etc. This method of education is also common in Europe and Russia.
Also, most of the German surnames came from the profession (occupation):

• from the profession of a carpenter - Zimmermann (Zimmermann),
• from the miller - Muller,
• from the profession of a blacksmith - Schmidt (Schmidt),
• from the tailor's craft - Schneider, Schroeder,
• from the occupation of the fisherman - Fischer,
• from the craft of the weaver - Weber (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 states.
Separately, it should be noted a very interesting situation with German surnames in the Volga settlements of Germans, originating in the second half of the 18th century. Then the German settlers, who did not have their own surnames, they were simply assigned en masse, and this process took place with big errors. Since that time, there have been many completely different Russian spellings of the same German surname. Such a process of distortion of generic names continued in the Soviet era, only here political considerations played the main role.

The most popular German surnames - list:

Schmidt (Schmidt), M?ller (Müller), Schneider (Schneider), Fischer (Fischer), Meier (Mayer), Weber (Weber), Wagner (Wagner), Becker (Becker), Schulz (Schulz), Hoffmann (Hofmann ), Sch?fer (Schafer), Koch (Koch), Bauer (Bauer), Richter (Richter), Klein (Klein), Wolf (Wolf), Schr?der (Schröder), Neumann (Neumann), Schwarz (Schwarz) , Zimmermann (Zimmermann).

Of course, who does not remember the most famous even in Russia German surname Müller? Or who does not know the ex-Chancellor of Germany Schroeder? Or the famous composer Wagner?

In addition to the material in this article, you can get general information about the origin of the surname and the mystery.

German surnames associated with the general process of the formation of a hereditary generic name in Western Europe. The feudal lords were the first to acquire them, as usual, in order to legitimize their rights to possessions. Then these were nicknames that supplemented personal names with special signs (Frederick Barbarossa got his nickname for a red beard). At first, surnames-nicknames began to appear in the 12th century in the west of Germany and slowly spread throughout the rest of the territory. Only eight centuries later, all the inhabitants of the country had surnames, the last to receive them were representatives of the lower strata of the population of Northern Germany by the end of the 19th century. Since German surnames are transmitted through the male line, they do not have differences in gender - the surnames of both men and women are pronounced and pushed the same way. However, modern Germans, who pay attention to the harmonious combination of first and last name, cannot be satisfied with such a combination, for example, as Anna Fischer (Anna the fisherman). Then they take the mother's surname or make up a double surname.

Interestingly, in dictionary of German surnames there are surnames with the ending -ov or -ev, which makes them similar to Russian surnames (Badrov, Dorov, Masov). declination these and others German surnames in Russian, it obeys the general rules for changing surnames according to cases.

Classification of German surnames and their meaning

List of German surnames makes it possible to divide them into several groups according to their origin. As in other European countries, many German surnames were formed from personal names (Walter, Peters). Another group reflects the individual characteristics of the first owner of the surname (Klein-small, Neumann-black-haired). Meaning parts German surnames corresponds to geographical names, for example, Bayer (from Bavaria), Behm (from the Czech region of Bohemia). Often people received surnames from the name of a building or piece of land. So Rosenbauer is a peasant who lived on a farm called Rose. If you look alphabetical list of german surnames, then you can see how many surnames were formed from the names of professions and positions - Schmidt (blacksmith), Mayer (farm manager), Töpfer (potter), Müller (miller). Some German surnames have been influenced by local dialects or foreign languages. In this case, their interpretation is somewhat difficult.

List of German surnames shows which surnames are the most common in Germany at the moment.

Popular German surnames and their translation

The list below shows how the German surnames most often found in Germany are translated. These surnames are the most famous and common in this country.
Muller(Müller) - miller
Schmidt(Schmidt) - blacksmith
Schneider(Schneider) - tailor
Fisher(Fischer) - fisherman
Mayer(Meier) - property manager
Weber(Weber) - weaver
Wagner(Wagner) - carriage master, carriage maker
becker(Becker) - baker
Schultz(Schulz) - warden
Hofmann, Hoffman(Hoffmann) - courtier
Schaefer(Schäfer) - shepherd-shepherd
Koch(Koch) - cook
Bauer(Bauer) - peasant
Richter(Richter) - Judge
Klein(Klein) - small
wolf(Wolf) - wolf
Schroeder(Schröder) - tailor
Neumann(Neumann) - new man
Schwartz(Schwarz) - black (black-haired)
Zimmermann(Zimmermann) - carpenter
Brown(Brown) - brown
Kruger(Krüger) - potter
Hartmann(Hartmann) - from the male name Hartmann
Lange(Lange) - long (large)
Werner(Werner) - from the male name Werner
Krause(Krause) - curly
Lehmann(Lehmann) - landowner
Köhler(Köhler) - collier
Herman(Hermann) - from the male name Herrmann
Koenig(König) - king

Previously, people of the humble class managed only one name, for example, Heinrich, Anna, Dietrich. This fact is recorded in the documents of the past, for example, in church books, contracts, court papers and literary works of that time.

During the Late Middle Ages, there was a trend when a nickname (Beiname) or a surname (Familienname) was added to the usual name (Rufname). 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 personal qualities, appearance, and other things.

Nicknames might have been needed to indicate that out of dozens of Heinrich bearers, it was the curly-haired one: Heinrich Krause could have appeared this way. Also, this step was important for the city administration and other bureaucrats, again to distinguish the townspeople from each other.

An important difference between a nickname and a surname was that it was not passed on to the next generations. It could also be added to the name, transformed from the type of activity of its carrier, the area where he lives, or, again, personal qualities. Surnames are passed from one generation to another by inheritance. Today it can be argued that surnames, as such, were formed from nicknames.

Names

It is conditionally possible to divide German names into two groups - ancient Germanic and foreign (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 bases, each of which had its own meaning. Such names were supposed to influence the fate of a person, patronize and protect him. In ancient documents (750-1080), about 7000 two-root Germanic names are indicated, most of which were male.

In the 11th century, such a variety of names came to naught due to the influence of Christianity and the arrival of new, southern European names. The new religion gradually contributed to the fact that Germanic names lost popularity and fell into oblivion.

Interestingly, in ancient Germanic names, many roots mean war, battle or weapons.

Examples of stems denoting:

Battle: badu, gund, hadu, hari, hild, wig

Weapons: ekka, ger (spear), isan, ort (weapon point)

Basics denoting ammunition and protection:

Brun: chest shield

Burg: refuge

Guard: fence

Linta: Linden shield

Rand: high shield

Roots denoting the characteristics of the battle:

Bald: (kühn) bold

Harti: (hart) strong

Kuni: (kühn) courageous

Muot: brave

Trud: (Kraft) strength

And signifying the consequences of the battle:

Sigu: (Sieg) victory

Hruod: (Friede) peace

Fridu: (Waffenruhe) armistice

Diet: (Natur) nature

Animal world:

Arn: (Adler) an 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 in the connection of the roots some letters of the name were lost over time. However, 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 two-root names mentioned, there were also some single-root ones. Among them are famous, 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 - glorious wolf

With the spread of Christianity, names of Greek and Roman origin were used more and more than those of Germanic origin. In comparison with the ancient Germanic names, they lacked the principle of dividing into two bases. Latin names with Roman origin are quite ordinary in their meaning and do not carry the grandeur inherent in ancient Germanic names: Paulus is small, Claudius is lame. Often the names of the children were chosen depending on how the child was born in a row: Tertiat is the third.

Traditional and beautiful-sounding names are very unsightly in their meaning, for example, Claudia - lame. Names that came under Greek influence were more cheerful. Amanda is worthy of love, Felix is ​​happy.

For the past five years, the lists of the most popular female and male names have been occupied by Mia and Emma among girls, and Ben, Jonas and Luis among boys.

And the most common names of Germany among the adult population (born between 1980 and 2000) sound quite 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 you can meet them sooner among 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. By a diminutive name, a person can be addressed in the family circle.

Among friends, at school or university, just the short form of the name is more often used, it is more neutral: Klaus from Nikolaus, Gabi from Gabriel, Sussi from Susanne, Hans from Johannes. As a rule, short names are formed using the -i morpheme at the end of a word.

Today, it is not uncommon for parents to initially give their child exactly the short form of a name: Toni (instead of the full Antonie) or Kurt (instead of Konrad). At the same time, the names obtained in this way are used on a par with the original full forms. The use of short forms as independent names has been officially allowed since the 19th century. It is noteworthy that short and diminutive names are mostly neuter.

And my last name is too famous for me to call it!

As in many other European countries, in Germany, surnames first appeared among the nobility and feudal lords, as a sign of belonging to an eminent family at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Gradually, ordinary, not noble people also received surnames. As in Russian, many surnames go back to designations of professions, occupation, place of residence and human qualities (Kuznetsov, Popov, Volkov, Khoroshkin) or from personal names (Ivanov, Antonov). As for differences, German surnames, as a rule, do not have feminine or masculine indicators, unlike Russian ones, where endings and suffixes almost always tell the gender of the carrier: 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 formed from personal names:

Walter, Hermann, Werner, Hartmann.

Surnames derived from nicknames:

Klein - small

Brown -brown

Neumann - the new man

Krause - curly

Lange - long, lanky

Jung - young

Schwarz - black haired

Stolz - proud

Bart - bearded man

Surnames formed from the name of professions and type of activity:

Müller - miller

Schmidt - blacksmith

Fischer - fisherman

Schneider - tailor, cutter

Wagner - carriage master

Meyer - manager (estate)

Weber - weaver

Hoffman - courtier

Koch - cook

Becker - from him. Backer - baker

Schäfer - shepherd

Schulz - warden

Richter- Judge

Bauer - peasant, country man

Schröder - tailor

Zimmermann - carpenter

Krüger - potter, innkeeper

Lehmann - landowner

König - king

Köhler - collier

Schuhmacher - shoemaker

The 10 most common surnames and their famous carriers:

Müller Otto Müller (1898 - 1979) was a German painter and graphic artist.

Matthias Müller (1953) - head of the VW automobile concern.

Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (1918 - 2015), German politician (SPD), German Chancellor 1974 - 1982

Schneider Romy Schneider (1938 - 1982), Austrian-German actress, best known for her role in the Sisi film trilogy.

Fischer Helene Fischer (1984) German singer, hit and pop music performer.

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) is a German boxer.

Wagner Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) - German composer who wrote the music and libretto for the opera Der Ring des Nibelungen.

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 the Mouse King", "Worldly Views of the Cat Murr".

May I apply?

When politely addressing “You” to a man, they say Herr + (Nachname): Herr Müller When politely addressing “You” to a woman, Frau + (Nachname): Frau Müller

When filling out official forms, they are always asked to indicate Vorname and Nachname. Enter your first name in the Vorname field and your last name in the Nachname field.

In everyday life, the word der Name means exactly the surname: "Mein Name ist Müller."

Interestingly, German law prohibits giving children names as names of geographical names (Bremen, London), titles (Prinzessin), trademarks (Coca-Cola), surnames or fictitious names (as is customary, for example, in the USA). But it is allowed give the child up to five names - while only two of them can be written with a hyphen (Anne-Marie).

Also unacceptable are names that are considered immoral and degrading to the dignity of a child, considered religious taboo or are not given names. If the registry office officials refuse to enter the chosen name, the issue will be resolved in court.

Words and expressions:

Das Kind beim Namen nennen - call a spade a spade

Die Dinge beim Namen nennen - call a spade a spade

Auf einen Namen horen - respond to a nickname (about animals)

Unter falschem Namen - under a false name

Mein Name ist Hase - my hut on the edge

Natalia Khametshina, Deutsch Online

Due to their sonority and beauty, German family nicknames are very popular among the peoples of many countries. Each of the proper names is unique and has a specific origin. Anyone who wants to join the culture of the peoples of Germany will be able to pick up a nickname to their liking, beautiful in sound or with a sacred meaning.

German names and surnames

The history of the appearance of German names and surnames begins in ancient times. Personal names were designed to carry not only a beautiful combination, but also a magical meaning that endowed the owner with certain qualities of character. The family nicknames of the Germans had a slightly different character of formation. They began to emerge from nickname meanings that reflected:

• already existing bright qualities of a person (Braun - brown, Schwarz - black, Klein - small);
• the area where he lived (von Berne, von der Vogelweide);
• the owner's profession or occupation (Becker - baker, Koch - cook, Bauer - peasant);
• many were formed from personal names (Peters, Walter).

Gradually, peculiar nicknames began to be recorded in official documents and acquired the meaning of the first German surnames, entrenched in all the descendants of the people who wore them. Business papers began to distribute them widely. In many modern German families, it is customary to address servants simply by name, without using the addresses that are familiar to this European country and have a respectful meaning:

• Herr - for men;
• Frau - for women.

The prefix "von" in German surnames

Many Germanic surnames have the prefix "von" at the beginning. It was very honorable to have one, since it was assigned exclusively to people of noble blood - aristocrats. In ancient times, only feudal lords could have such a postscript - people who own servants and land plots. Today, the prefix "von" in German surnames can be found in people of any kind of activity, since all noble privileges have been abolished.

German surnames for girls

Girls with sonorous names can appropriate a second foreign origin. For respectful address to women in Germany, the word "Frau", meaning "madam", is used. Beautiful German surnames for women with their meaning for girls:

• Kaufman is a merchant;
• Becker - baker;
• Rieger - from Riga;
• Klee - clover;
• Hertz - courage;
• Reuss - on behalf of;
• Schultz - headman;
• Mayer - farmer, burgomaster;
• Till is a strong ruler;
• Junghans - on behalf of the family.

German surnames for men

Noble and majestic meaning should be given to male German surnames. Representatives of the stronger sex can choose them by translation, in accordance with their profession or appearance. To emphasize significance, the word "Herr" should be used when addressing. List of popular beautiful male German proper names with their meanings:

• Fisher is a fisherman;
• Schmidt is a blacksmith;
• Becker is a baker;
• Koch - cook;
• Richter - judge;
• Brown - brown;
• Lange - big;
• Klein - small;
• Schroeder - tailor;
• Kehler - coal miner;
• Kening is the king;
• Krause - curly;
• Lehmann is a landowner.

Popular German surnames

Common German surnames are often used as pseudonyms. They are beautiful, noble, sonorous. Such family nicknames are worn by many famous people. List of popular beautiful Germanic proper names with meanings:

• Müller is a miller;
• Mayer - manager of the lands;
• Weber - weaver;
• Wagner - carriage maker;
• Schultz - headman;
• Hoffmann - courtier;
• Schaefer is a shepherd;
• Bauer is a peasant;
• Wolf - wolf;
• Neumann is a new man;
• Zimmerman is a carpenter;
• Kruger - potter;
• Schwartz - black;
• Hartmann - from a male personal name.

There are other beautiful nicknames:

• Walter;
• Berg;
• Borman;
• Bremer;
• Brunner;
• Ganz;
• Gruber;
• Geller;
• Seiler;
• Simmel;
• Singer;
• Keller;
• Kramer;
• Liebknecht;
• Leitner;
• Merkel;
• Meyer;
• Moritz;
• Neller;
• Osterman;
• Pearl;
• Preuss;
• Riedel;
• Rogge;
• Rothman;
• Frieze;
• Fuchs;
• Hoffman;
• Zuckerman;
• Schwartz;
• Schiller;
• Schmidt;
• Schneider;
• Schroeder;
• Matte;
• Ebel.