German surnames: meaning and origin. Male and female German surnames

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

In European countries, as in the rest of the world, a person's personality has been identified for many centuries by his name. An example is the son of God Jesus himself, who at birth was named Emmanuel, and then called Yeshua. The need to distinguish different people with the same name required explanatory additions. So the Savior began to be called Jesus of Nazareth.

When the Germans got 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 of Germany, there was nobility, 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 first 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 W alter, 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. In terms 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 that 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 Ukrainethis is Melnik, Melnikov or Melnichenko.

The famous composer Richard Wagner could assume that one of his ancestors was engaged in freight transportation on his own cart, the ancestor of the storyteller Hoffmann owned his own household yard, and the pianist Richter's great-grandfather 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 one who was blown up by underground partisans. In translation, his surname means "cook". Yeah, he made a mess…

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 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 he alth and strength.

Slavic origin of German surnames

German lands onthe east always bordered on the Slavic states, 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", meaning a person in the Old Slavic language. A painter, a craftsman, a fisherman, a 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).

Baron backgrounds

There are very beautiful German surnames, consisting of two parts: the main and the prefix, usually "fon" 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. W alther von der Vogelweid - it sounds! Or here is von Richthoffen, pilot and "Red Baron".

However, not only the former glory becomes the reason for such complications inwriting. The origin of German surnames can be much more prosaic and speak of the area in which a 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

Germans have lived in Russia since pre-Petrine times, populating entire regions, called "settlements", 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 New Russia. A large number of 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, Aizenstein, Weissberg, Rosenthal and many other names of citizens of the Russian Empire, the USSR and post-Soviet countries are mistakenly considered Jewish by many. 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, has become the country where every enterprising and hard-working person could find his place in life. Worksenough for everyone, new cities were built at an accelerated pace, especially in Novorossia, recaptured from the 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.

Jews, famous for their business savvy, trading 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 outlined, however, 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 acceptedOrthodoxy, 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 last names

Besides the indicated groups of German surnames, originating from professions, hair color, appearance features, there is one more, 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!