German surnames associated with the general process of forming 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 to late XIX 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 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 others 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 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
Personal german names belong to the most ancient onyms. German surnames appeared much later. The German personal names that we encounter today accumulated in it gradually, were borrowed from various sources. Some of them go back to ancient German names, many modern German names in different time were borrowed from other nations. A particularly strong craving for foreign names is observed today. In modern German-speaking culture, a person has two types of name: personal (Rufname) and surname (Familienname). There is no patronymic (Vatersname) in the German environment. In everyday life, the word der Name denotes a surname: "Mein Name ist Müller."; "Wie war doch gleich der Name?" (“What is your last name?” is a common question of a person who has forgotten the name of the interlocutor): Der Name steht an der Wohnungstür. In official documents where a full name is required, there is a column "Vorname und Name", i.e. personal name and surname.
History of German personal names
The oldest of the names of Germanic origin originated in the 7th-4th centuries. BC. As in others Indo-European languages, they are composed of two parts and were designed to magically "influence" fate of man, to give him strength, courage, victory, the protection of the gods, etc. This is reflected in the etymology of ancient names that still exist today, such as Eberhart ("stark wie ein Eber"), Bemhart ("stark wie der Bär"), Wolfgang, cf. Russians Svyatoslav, Gorisveta, Vladimir. From the oldest layer of personal names - about 2,000 of them have been discovered - today there are hardly a hundred active ones. Already in the early Middle Ages, the "magic meaning" of personal names was completely lost. In the second half of the VIII century. names associated with Christianity begin to penetrate German from Italy: first, names from the Old Testament - Adam (Hebrew "original"), Susanne (Hebrew "lily"), then Andreas (Greek "brave"), Agathe (" kind"), Katharina ("pure"), from Latin - Viktor "winner", Beata "happy". Particularly active biblical names borrowed in the 15th century. Moreover, in Catholic families, preference was and is given to the names of saints - the patrons of babies, in Lutheran families - to the names of biblical characters. Personal names of religious content were also created from German words and bases: Traugott, Fürchtegott, Gotthold, etc. The choice of a personal name is often influenced by fashion. The fashion for names is largely shaped by imitation. In the old days, children were willingly given the names of monarchs (in Prussia - Friedrich, Wilhelm; in Saxony - August, Johann, Albert; in Austria - Joseph, Leopold, Maximilian), as well as the names of heroes of literary works. Today, when choosing a name, there is a strong influence of cinema, television and pop music, there is also a craving for originality, uniqueness, and unusualness of the name. Previously known names are often written in a foreign way: Elly, Sylvia, Gaby (instead of Elli, Silvia, Gabi). Some names are out of fashion. They are very rare today. Older people have names that are no longer in use today. (...) In everyday life, many personal German names, especially long ones, are abbreviated, for example: Ulrich -> Ulli; Bertolt –> Bert(i); Bernhard –> Bernd; Katharina –> Kat(h)e; Friedrich –> Fritz; Heinrich –> Heinz, Harry; Johannes –> Hans; Susanne –> Susy. Some of these so-called hypocoristic names have become used today along with the original, i.e. independently, for example: Fritz, Heinz, Hans.
German surnames
German surnames developed much later than German personal names. Origin of German surnames starts from the Middle Ages. They developed from the so-called nicknames (Beinamen), which originally contained information Many nicknames indicated some physical or other differences of this person: Friedrich Barbarossa (= Rotbart, "Red-beard"), Heinrich der Lowe, etc. Over time, this nickname began to be passed on to heirs and fixed in official documents. The famous German linguist W. Fleischer points out that from the 12th century. the appearance of German surnames begins first in big cities in the West. In the north, in the province of Hanover, they were introduced only in early XIX in. by order of Napoleon. generic names, surnames were fixed primarily for the feudal lords. (...) Fleischer cites as an example characters Lessing's plays "Minna von Barnhelm": Fräulein von Barnhelm, Major von Tellheim - nobles, servants - Just, Franziska. And today domestic servants It is customary to call simply by name, in contrast to the usual address: Frau + given name or surname Herr + first or last name The vast majority of modern German surnames were formed from personal names (Walter, Hermann30 most common German surnames 1. Müller - miller The most popular German surnames. List of 30 surnames 1. Müller - miller
List of popular German surnames
* Abicht * Baade * Wagner * Gasenclover * Hess * Delbrück * Zach * Yeager * Kade * Klein * Lamprecht * Mayer * Nagel * Overbeck * Patkul * Ratzenberger * Sartorius * Thyssen * Feigenbaum * Frisch * Haas * Zimmerman * Schwartz * Slate * Ebel
- then these are romantically “Nordic” (Knut, Olaf, Sven, Birgit), borrowed from ancient Germanic mythology or from the heroic epic (Siegfrid, Siegmund, etc.),
- then french names(Annette, Claire, Nicole, Yvonne)
- then Russian (Vera, Natascha, Sascha), Italian or Anglo-American.
So, in 1983, in the Bern region (GDR, near Leipzig), the most common names The girls were Nicole, Anja, Susanne, Maudy, Christin, Yvonne. For boys - Christian, Thomas, Stefan, Patrick, Michael, Sebastian.
- about the origin name bearer,
– about the place of his birth: Walter von der Vogelweide, Dietrich von Berne.
2. Schmidt - blacksmith
4. Fischer - fisherman
6. Weber (Weber) - weaver
8. Becker - baker
12. Koch (Koch) - cook
16. Wolf (Wolf) - wolf
30. König - king
, Peters, Jacobi), nicknames (Bart, Stolz) and names of professions, occupations (Müller, Schmidt, Koch, Schulze, Schumacher).
2. Schmidt - blacksmith
3. Schneider - tailor
4. Fischer - fisherman
5. Meier - property manager
6. Weber (Weber) - weaver
7. Wagner (Wagner) - carriage master, carriage maker
8. Becker - baker
9. Schulz - headman
10. Hoffmann, Hoffmann (Hoffmann) - courtier
11. Shefer (Schäfer) - shepherd-shepherd
12. Koch (Koch) - cook
13. Bauer - peasant
14. Richter - Judge
15. Klein - small
16. Wolf (Wolf) - wolf
17. Schröder - tailor
18. Neumann (Neumann) - a new man
19. Schwarz - black (black-haired)
20. Zimmermann - carpenter
21. Brown (Braun) - brown
22. Krüger - potter
23. Hartmann (Hartmann) - from the male name Hartmann
24. Lange - long (large)
25. Werner (Werner) - from the male name Werner
26. Krause (Krause) - curly
27. Lehmann - landowner
28. Köhler - coal miner
29. Herman (Hermann) - from the male name Herrmann
30. König - king
* Adler
* Eichenwald
* Albrecht
* Altman
* Appel
* Arnold
* Baum
* Bauman
* Baumgarten
* Baur
* Bauer
* Bach
* Bachman
* Bebel
* Benz
* Berg
* Berger
* Bergman
* Berend
* Behrens
* Bilderling
* Blank
* Block
* Blucher
* Bonke
* Borzig
* Bormann
* Brandt
* Braunfels
* Bremer
* Brenner
* Brunner
* Brunet
* Burckhardt
* Bülow
* Weigl
* Weiss
* Walser
* Walter
* Wasserman
* Weber
* Wegener
* Veltman
* Wenzel
* Werner
* Winkelhock
* Winterhalter
* Wirth
* Wolf
* Volzogen
* Wulf
* Ganz
* Hardenberg
* Hartung
* Goebbels
* Haeckel
* Gehlen
* Geller
* Genkel
* Göring
* Hertz
* Hesse
* Himmler (disambiguation)
* Hirsch
* Hirshman
* Hitler
* Glazenap
* Grimm
* Grossman
* Gruber
* Diels
* Drexler
* Zaks
* Zaleman
* Seidemann
* Seidlitz
* Seiler
* Semper
* Sievers
* Siegel
* Zilberman
* Silberstein
* Simmel
* Singer
* Sommer
* Jens
* Jensen
* Jench
* Yerg
* Joseph
* Jon
* Yost
* Kallenberg
* Callisen
* Kalb
* Kalkbrenner
* Kaltenbrunner
* Cantor
* Karus
* Kaulbach
* Kaufman
* Cauer
* Katz
* Köhler
* Keller
* Kellerman
* Ker
* Kirchner
* Kirchner
* Kittel
* Classen
* Klee
* Klein
* Kleiner
* Kleinerman
* Kleinman
* Kleist
* Klemperer
* Klenze
* Klinger
* Klotz
* Kleiber
* Kleiner
* Knecht
* Kolbe
* Kopp
* Korf
* Kramer
* Krause
* Kraus
* Krebs
* Krenz
* Kretschmer
* Kruse
* Kun
* Kurtz
* Kung
* Köhler
* Köhne
* König
* Köstlin
* Landsberg
* Laufer
* Leitner
* Lenz
* Liebknecht
* Lipsius
* Lichtenberg
* Loos
* Mackensen
* Mahler
* Mann
* Mezieres
* Meyendorff
* Meyer
* Meisner
* Meltzer
* Meltzer
* Merkel
* Merz
* Metzger
* Moderson
* Morgner
* Moritz
* Mozart
* Muller
* Möbius
* Bernhard
* Nicholas
* Nolken
* Noteback
* Nöller
* Osterman
* Pearl
* Preuss
* Rau
* Raush
* Rebinder
* Reinhardt
* Rennenkampf
* Riedel
* Rickert
* Rogge
* Rosenbaum
* Romberg
* Rothman
* Rothschild
* Rumpf
* Rumpff
* Segal
* Tishbane
* Feuerbach
* Finkelstein
* Fisher
* Fleischer
* Fleishman
* Voigt
* Von Richthofen
* Von Feuerbach
* Franke
* Freeze
* Fuchs
* Furstenberg
* Hagen
* Hakl
* Hanke
* Herzog
* Honecker
* Hopp
* Hoffman
* Zuckerman
* Zurbriggen
* Schwartzman
* Schweitzer
* Scheidemann
* Schelling
* Schaefer
* Sheffer
* Shekhtel
* Schiller
* Shirman
* Schlechter
* Schmidt
* Schmitz
* Schneider
* Schneiderman
* Scholl
* Spiegel
* Sprenger
* Schreyer
* Shredder
* Stackelberg
* matte
* Stern
* Schubert
* Shulman
* Schultze
* Schulze
* Schumacher
* Ebert
* Erdman
* Etinger
The most common German surnames are Müller, Schmidt, Schneider, Fischer, Weber, Mayer, Wagner, Becker, Schultz, Hoffman.
In this article I will tell you where the most popular and frequently occurring surnames come from, and what they mean. And also - you will recognize the awkward and very funny surnames that some Germans wear.
Surnames began to appear only in the 9th century, and in Germany they appeared in the 12th century. Already in the 15th century most of people of the country acquired this attribute, but only by 1875 the presence of a surname became a mandatory matter.
Where did the Germans take surnames in the Middle Ages and how did they come up with them?
Most got their last name depending on what they were doing - what profession they owned. 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), Schulz (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 lore is a very big and loud man who has exactly the surname Klein, although the opposite in meaning would suit him.
People were also called by the color of their hair or eyes: Mr. Black ( Schwarz), Mrs. Brown ( Brown). Curly could give a surname: Krause. Lefty - Link.
And some were given surnames according to their behavioral qualities: this category includes - Kuhn (brave), Fromm (pious), Gut (good), Böse (evil).
And even: Übel - nasty, nauseating. Who would like such a surname, huh?
Recently there was a news report with Frau Nyd (Neid). If translated, it turns out Mrs. Envy. That is, her ancestors were envious and they were taken like this and called names for many generations to come. It's a shame, probably ... But still, Frau Übel can be even more unpleasant.
Other Germans were given last names based on where they lived. You live in the mountainous part - call Berger, but if your house is on the plain - then Ebner. The following surnames followed the same principle: Stein(this family is from the stone region), Busch(a 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, given their origin. This is how surnames appeared - which sound the same as some cities, and even countries. For example, sir 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 came from.
Among German surnames there are also surnames with the name of animals. The most common of these is the surname Fuchs- which translates as "fox". It is not known for certain how the first carrier received it. Perhaps he was sly as a fox, or maybe red. But there is evidence that says that this name was also given to hunters. The second most popular surname from the animal world is Hahn (rooster). Perhaps that was the name of the arrogant and proud, 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: such a medieval uncle is sitting and giving out surnames. Here is a profession that is cool, creative and important.
He sits, thinking: oh, today there were 40 Mullers, 30 Schwarts, 10 Kleins, well, what surname should I give to this one ... Something I don’t like, he knitted his eyebrows, twisted his mouth. Oh, I'm tired of him, go on - 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 also very funny ones, there are ridiculous ones, and there are such ones that you definitely can’t envy their owners.
I recently bought a book Kuriose Namen: and discovered the world of German surnames, which I did not even suspect. The authors of the book, Anita and Martin Bubenheim, have been collecting material for their book for many years and structured the material in a very funny way.
There are so many sections in this book: German surnames that designate parts of the body and sound the same as some diseases, and a whole bunch of devilish surnames, both appetizing and derived from the names of drinks ...
Here is 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 true, Pest - plague, Blaukopf - blue head, Zahnweh - toothache.
Representing a dentist with the last name Toothache? And the educator kindergarten- Daemon? Well, about Castrato ... I generally keep quiet 🙄
Here is a small part of the 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 funny last name like Pinkepank - not at all a tribute to fashion, it is also from there - from distant medieval times. “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.
And also read the review about the Medieval Market - here
In European countries, as in the rest of the world, a person's identity has been identified for many centuries by his name. An example is the very son of God Jesus, who at birth was named Emmanuel, and then called Yeshua. The need to distinguish different people with one name required explanatory additions. So the Savior began to be called Jesus of Nazareth.
When did the Germans get surnames?
German surnames arose according to the same principle as in other countries. Their formation in the peasant environment of various lands continued until the 19th century, that is, it coincided in time with the completion of state building. The formation of a united Germany required a clearer and more unambiguous definition of who is who.
However, already in the XII century on the territory of the present Federal Republic There was a nobility in Germany, and at the same time German surnames first appeared. As in other European countries, patronymics are not used here for personal identification. But at birth, the baby is usually given two names. You can refer to any person by adding a word meaning gender. Women's German surnames are no different from men's, they just use the prefix "frau" in front of them.
Types of German surnames
By linguistic origin, German surnames can be divided into groups. The first and most common is formed from names, mostly male. This is explained by the fact that the mass appropriation of surnames took place in a fairly short (in the historical sense) period, and there was simply no time for the manifestation of any sophisticated fantasy.
Surnames derived from given names
The simplest of them are those that did not philosophize for a long time, but simply formed them on behalf of their first owner. Some peasant was called Walter, so his descendants received such a surname. We also have Ivanovs, Sidorovs and Petrovs, and their origin is similar to the German Johannes, Peters or Hermanns. From the point of view of historical background, such popular German surnames say little, except that some ancient ancestor was called Peters.
Profession as a morphological basis of a surname
Somewhat less common are German surnames, which speak of the professional affiliation of their first owner, one might say, the ancestor. But the diversity of this group is much wider. The most famous surname in her is Muller, which means “miller” in translation. The English equivalent is Miller, and in Russia or Ukraine it is Melnik, Melnikov or Melnichenko.
The famous composer Richard Wagner could assume that one of his ancestors was engaged in freight transport on his own cart, the ancestor of the storyteller Hoffmann owned his own household yard, and the great-grandfather of the pianist Richter was a judge. The Schneiders and Schroeders used to be tailors, and the Singers loved to sing. There are other interesting German male surnames. The list is continued by Fischer (fisherman), Becker (baker), Bauer (peasant), Weber (weaver), Zimmermann (carpenter), Schmidt (blacksmith) and many others.
There was once during the war Gauleiter Koch, the same one who was blown up by underground partisans. In translation, his surname means "cook". Yes, he made porridge ...
Surnames as a description of appearance and character
Some male and possibly female German surnames come from the appearance or character of their first owner. For example, the word "lange" in translation means "long", and it can be assumed that its original founder was different tall, for which he received such a nickname. Klein (small) is his complete opposite. Krause means "curly", such an attractive feature of the hair of some Frau, who lived a couple of centuries ago, can be inherited. Fuchs' ancestors were most likely as cunning as foxes. The ancestors of Weiss, Brown or Schwartz, respectively, were blond, brown-haired or brunette. The Hartmans were noted for their excellent health and strength.
Slavic origin of German surnames
The German lands in the east always bordered on and this created the conditions for the mutual penetration of cultures. Well-known German surnames with the endings "-its", "-ov", "-of", "-ek", "-ke" or "-ski" have a pronounced Russian or Polish origin.
Lützow, Diesterhof, Dennitz, Modrow, Janke, Radetzky and many others have long become familiar, and their total share is one fifth of the total number of German surnames. In Germany, they are perceived as their own.
The same applies to the ending "-er", derived from the word "yar", which means a person in the Old Slavic language. Painter, teslyar, fisherman, baker are clear examples of such cases.
During the Germanization period, many of these surnames were simply translated into German, choosing the appropriate roots or replacing the ending with “-er”, and now nothing reminds of the Slavic origin of their owners (Smolyar - Smoler, Sokolov - Sokol - Falk).
Backgrounds-barons
There are very beautiful German surnames, consisting of two parts: the main one and the prefix, usually “von” or “der”. They contain information not only about unique features of appearance, but also about famous historical events in which the owners of these nicknames took part, sometimes actively. Therefore, descendants are proud of such names and often remember their ancestors when they want to emphasize their own generosity. Walther von der Vogelweid - it sounds! Or here is von Richthoffen, the pilot and the "Red Baron".
However, not only the former glory causes such complications in writing. The origin of German surnames can be much more prosaic and speak of the area in which the person was born. What, for example, does Dietrich von Bern mean? Everything is clear: his ancestors come from the capital of Switzerland.
German surnames of Russian people
The Germans have lived in Russia since pre-Petrine times, populating entire regions, called "slobodas", according to the ethnic principle. However, then all Europeans were called that, but under the great emperor-reformer, the influx of immigrants from the German lands was encouraged in every possible way. The process gained momentum during the reign of Catherine the Great.
German colonists settled in the Volga region (Saratov and Tsaritsinsk provinces), as well as in Novorossia. Big number Lutherans later converted to Orthodoxy and assimilated, but they retained their German surnames. For the most part, they are the same as those worn by settlers who came to the Russian Empire during the 16th-18th centuries, with the exception of those cases when the clerks-clerks who prepared the documents made typos and mistakes.
Surnames considered Jewish
Rubinstein, Hoffmann, Eisenstein, Weisberg, Rosenthal and many other names of citizens Russian Empire, the USSR and the post-Soviet countries, many mistakenly consider Jewish. This is not true. However, there is some truth in this statement.
The fact is that Russia, starting from the end of the 17th century, became the country where every enterprising and hard-working person could find his place in life. There was enough work for everyone, new cities were being built at an accelerated pace, especially in Novorossia, recaptured from Ottoman Empire. It was then that Nikolaev, Ovidiopol, Kherson and, of course, the pearl of the south of Russia - Odessa appeared on the map.
Extremely favorable economic conditions were created for foreigners coming to the country, as well as for their own citizens who wished to develop new lands, and political stability, supported by the military power of the regional leader, guaranteed that this situation would last for a long time.
Currently, Lustdorf (Merry Village) has become one of the Odessa suburbs, and then it was a German colony, the main occupation of whose inhabitants was Agriculture, mainly viticulture. They also knew how to brew beer here.
The Jews, famous for their business ingenuity, trade savvy and handicraft abilities, also did not remain indifferent to the call of the Russian Empress Catherine. In addition, musicians, artists and other artists of this nationality came from Germany. The surnames of most of them were German, and they spoke Yiddish, which in its essence is one of the dialects of the German language.
At that time, there was a "Pale of Settlement", which, however, outlined a fairly large and not worse part of the empire. In addition to the Black Sea region, the Jews chose many areas of the current Kyiv region, Bessarabia and other fertile lands, building small towns. It is also important that living beyond the Pale of Settlement was mandatory only for those Jews who remained faithful to Judaism. Having adopted Orthodoxy, everyone could settle in any part of the vast country.
Thus, natives of Germany of two nationalities at once became carriers of German surnames.
Unusual German surnames
In addition to these groups of German surnames, originating from professions, hair color, appearance features, there is another, rare, but wonderful. And she speaks of the glorious qualities of character, good disposition and fun, which the ancestors of the person bearing this name were famous for. An example is Alisa Freindlich, who adequately confirms the reputation of her ancestors. "Kind", "friendly" - this is how this German surname is translated.
Or Neumann. "New Man" - isn't that beautiful? How great it is to please everyone around you every day, and even yourself, with freshness and novelty!
Or economic Wirtz. Or Luther with pure thoughts and an open heart. Or Jung - young, regardless of the number of years lived.
Such interesting German surnames, the list of which is endless!
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 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:
- Müller (miller)
- Schmidt (blacksmith)
- Schneider (tailor)
- Fischer (fisherman)
- Weber (weaver)
- Meyer (builder)
- Wagner (coach)
- Becker (baker)
- Schulz (main in the city, village)
- Hoffmann (profession)
- Schäfer (shepherd)
- Koch (cook)
- Bauer (farmer)
- Richter (profession)
- Klein (small)
- Wolf (wolf)
- Schröder (Schneider) (tailor)
- Neumann (new)
- Schwarz (black)
- Zimmermann (carpenter)
- Braun (brown)
- Krüger (innkeeper)
- Hofmann (profession)
- Hartmann (profession)
- Lange (long)
- Schmitt (profession)
- Werner (name)
- Schmitz (printer)
- Krause (curly)
- Meier (builder)
- Lehmann (profession)
- Schmid (profession)
- Schulze (profession)
- Maier (builder)
- Kohler (profession)
- Herrmann (name)
- Konig (king)
- Walter (name)
- Mayer (builder)
- Huber (profession)
- Kaiser (Kaiser)
- Fuchs (fox)
- Peters (name)
- Lang (long)
- Scholz (profession)
- Möller (profession)
- Weiß (white)
- Jung (young)
- Hahn (rooster)
- Schubert (shoemaker)
