The meaning of surnames and linking them to traceable lines in ancestral homelands remains a complex issue for the family historian. It derives from the medieval personal name, of Biblical origin, from Aramaic תאומא t'om'a, a byname meaning 'twin'. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. The German Genealogy Group (GGG) Surname List is a compilation of the surnames submitted by members of the GGG. His American name was Uno Byers. If a German moved onto someone else's farm, it was not uncommon to change his last name to that of the farm. Ancestors from Southern Germany (Württemberg, Pfalz) came before immigrants from Saxony and Westphalia. HORN English, German, Norwegian, Danish From the Germanic word horn meaning "horn" . Find out how surnames are ranked in popularity, how many people in the United States of America bear a particular name, and how the statistics change between 1990 and 2000 US Censuses. I found somewhere (not sure where) that it was Bauer. Most German surnames derive either from archaic professions (such as Schmidt, Müller, Weber, or Schäfer) or places. The list was initially created by searching for the most common last names in German telephone books. Few of the latter are on the following list, but examples include Brinkmann, Berger, and Frank. An “umlaut” a “double dot” mark over a vowel, to indicate a more fronted or rounded pronunciation. It is a toponymic name referring to people who originally came from the city of Aachen in … The table below includes last names ranked 16,001-20,000 in America. Where variations of a spelling of a surname occurred, those monikers are listed as separate names. 2, also appears as Schmitt (No. How can a researcher know that behind such names are people of German origin? For instance, Schmidt, which is ranked No. Because of this, German last names can be found throughout bordering countries, including Poland, Austria, France and Spain. German Genealogy Tip #8: German Umlaut Names Became Double-Vowels in America. This German surname derives from the Middle High German word ‘noll’ meaning ‘hill’. According to the above table, from the 2000 Census, 17.11% of Americans have a surname among the top 100. Most of these Conversos fled to Turkey, some to West Africa, to the Caribbean Islands, South America and from there also to New Mexico, and a number of them settled in Germany and Poland. To learn more, see Clifford Neal Smith’s article “Language and Onomastics” in Encyclopedia of German-American Genealogical Research, by Clifford Neal Smith and Anna Piszczan-Czaja Smith. Bezold (* Betzold, Betzoldt..), Petzoldt (* Petzold, Pezold) Beyer, Beier, Bayer, Baier Bezzenberger (cf. BRAND (1) German, English Derived from the Germanic given name BRANDO or its Old Norse cognate BRANDR. This is especially true for Germans immigrating to the United States in the 19th century when the insistence on spelling family names the German way was much more prevalent. For instance, in eastern Pennsylvania, early-day officials who were Scotch-Irish translated German names ending in –bach to –baugh. Adalbert, Low German) BRAND (2) German From Old High German brant "fire", originally a name for a person who lived near an area that had been cleared by fire. Charts by Village. This is an Ashkenazi Jewish last name of German or Old English origins with the meaning … Thomas is a common surname of English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Dutch, and Danish origin.. This is in response to the post of Gwynne Geyer. Melchior Hofmann was a visionary religious leader in northern Germany in the early 16th century (he was to have some 20th century descendants, Karl and Nicholas von Hoffman, in America). If a name was translatable, sooner or later family members would use such terms as Carpenter for Zimmermann, Taylor for Schneider, etc. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Just before the civil war is when my relative came from Bavaria Germany to New York not sure what the original name was. Do you know what an “umlaut” is? Would love to know who came from Berman Germany in my family, Haag, Miller, schreiner and Bess Leon are names in my backgroun, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner, pronounced [ˈdɔʏ̯tʃʔameʁiˌkaːnɐ]) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. in German studies. BROCKHAUS German Occupational hereditary surname for a person who was physically powerful, derived from Old German brock which may refer to persons with a stocky or strong build. For example, the surname Meyer means dairy farmer today, whereas, during the Middle Ages, Meyer designated people who were stewards of landholders. Pronunciation : case sensitive: see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds; sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: *lee matches names which end with the sound lee _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation What about the last name:Makin! Some 50 million people there are primarily of German descent. The following tables include all surnames with over 0.001% frequency in the US population during the 1990 census. Any ideas where it came from exactly? Required fields are marked *. October 8, 2014 Josiah Schmidt German Genealogy Tips. The acronyms OHG and MHG stand for Old High German and Middle High German, respectively. This is followed in popularity by the name Schmidt (along with variants such as Schmitt or Schmitz, this comes from the blacksmith's trade), with Meier coming in third place. Another tricky thing about German last names: A last name could be what you would call a farm name. Ingrid Bauer, who is fluent in German, has been teaching and tutoring the German language since 1996. Read on and find out more about the German surnames. Your email address will not be published. Carpenter and Weaver in English or Zimmermann and Weber in German tell us that the ancestor with whom the name originated was a carpen- ter or a weaver respectively. The latter groups arrived in the 19th century, thus their plentiful names follow different patterns. Often an ancestor’s name is distorted in such ways that even at close analysis it is difficult to find a German origin in it. The author Clifford Neal Smith gives some suggestions of what to look for when tracing German immigrants in the United States. If a name was translatable, sooner or later family members would use such terms as Carpenter for Zimmermann, Taylor for Schneider, etc. Many attended German Evangelical churches in which the sermon was in German. Ben Affleck – actor and filmmaker. Actors. I have many ancestors in the 1800s with different English-sounding surnames in the DC area. They all trace their lineage back to one couple whose name was DAVIS. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Jensen Ackles – actor. Surname A-G. Surname H-K. Surname L-R. Surname S-Z. It’s Pennsylvania Dutch ? She has a teaching degree and an M.A. Top surnames according to the 2010 U.S. Census may be found here. German Surnames in America BECKER - BAKER ZIMMERMANN - CARPENTER SCHWARZ - BLACK KLEIN - LITTLE With an estimated size of approximately 44.2 million in 2018, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the United States Census Bureau in its American Community Survey. Casey Affleck – actor and director. And have a great day. Occasionally, surname charts surface that we cannot contribute to any one individual. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our, German Last Names and Their English Meanings, The Meaning and Origin of Famous German Names, The History of Popular German Last Names (Nachnamen), A List of Common German Names for Boys and Girls, Everything you need to Know About German Names, German for Travelers: The Basic Travel Phrasebook, A German-English Glossary of Popular German Abbreviations, "Young Frankenstein" and Those Whinnying Horses, German First Names and Their English Equivalents, Difference Between Samstag, Sonnabend, and Sonntag, Learn How to Say the Days of the Week in German, Roy Black's Version of "Jingle Bells" in German. The meanings of German last names are those as defined initially when these names became surnames. When interpreting a family name, the German surnames derive either from archaic (! 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