1000 Most Common Last Names in Austria

German (Grüber) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived in a depression or hollow, from (respectively) Middle High German gruobe, German Grube ‘pit’, ‘hollow’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. As a Jewish name it can also be one of names randomly distributed by government officials. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname from an inflected form of Yiddish dialect grub ‘rude, impolite’.

German (also Hüber, Hueber): status name based on Middle High German huobe, a measure of land, varying in size at different periods and in different places, but always of considerable extent, appreciably larger than the holding of the average peasant. The surname usually denotes a holder or owner of this amount of land, who would have been a prosperous small farmer and probably one of the leading men of his village. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, not only in German-speaking lands. Slovenian (eastern Slovenia): status name of Franconian origin (see 1) for a peasant who had his own landed property, dialectally called huba. Dutch: variant of Hubert. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a southern Yiddish pronunciation of Yiddish hober ‘oats’ (see Haber).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): status name for a peasant or nickname meaning ‘neighbor’, ‘fellow citizen’, from Middle High German (ge)bur, Middle Low German bur, denoting an occupant of a bur, a small dwelling or building. Compare Old English bur, modern English bower. This word later fell together with Middle High German buwære, an agent noun from Old High German buan ‘to cultivate’, later also (at first in Low German dialects) ‘to build’. The German surname thus has two possible senses: ‘peasant’ and ‘neighbor’, ‘fellow citizen’. The precise meaning of the Jewish surname, which is of later formation, is unclear. This surname is also found elsewhere in central and eastern Europe, for example in Slovenia, where it may also be a translation of Kmet.

German (also Wägner) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a carter or cartwright, from an agent derivative of Middle High German wagen ‘cart’, ‘wagon’, German Wagen. The German surname is also well established in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, eastern Europe, and elsewhere as well as in German-speaking countries.

German (Bavaria, Austrian Tyrol): topographic name from pichl, pühl ‘hill’; in Tyrol it tends to be a habitational name from a farm named with this word. North German: nickname for a drinker, from an agent derivative of Low German (Westphalian) picheln ‘to drink’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for someone who worked with stone: a quarryman, stonecutter, or stonemason; an agent derivative of Stein. Topographic name for someone who lived on stony ground or near a prominent outcrop of rock.

English: status name for a mayor, Middle English, Old French mair(e) (from Latin maior ‘greater’, ‘superior’; compare Mayor). In France the title denoted various minor local officials, and the same is true of Scotland (see Mair 1). In England, however, the term was normally restricted to the chief officer of a borough, and the surname may have been given not only to a citizen of some standing who had held this office, but also as a nickname to a pompous or officious person. German and Dutch: variant of Meyer 1. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Meyer 2.

South German: topographic name for someone who lived near a peat bog, Middle High German mos, or a habitational name from a place named with this word. North German (Möser): metonymic occupational name for a vegetable grower or seller, from an agent noun based on Middle Low German mos ‘vegetable’.

South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived at, worked on, or managed a farm, from Middle High German hof ‘farmstead’, ‘manor farm’, ‘court’ + the agent suffix -er. Compare Hoffmann.

German, Dutch, Swedish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived in the mountains or hills (see Berg). As a Jewish name it is mainly ornamental. It is found as a surname throughout central and eastern Europe, either as a surname of German origin or as a German translation of a topographic name with similar meaning, for example Slovenian Gricar, Hribar, Gorjan or Gorjanc. Norwegian: habitational name from any of various farms so named with the plural of Berg ‘mountain’. French: occupational name for a shepherd, from Old French bergier (Late Latin berbicarius, from berbex ‘ram’).

German (Bavaria, Austria) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived by a mountain spur or on a slope of a mountain, from Middle High German lite ‘mountain slope’, ‘spur’ + the suffix -(n)er, denoting an inhabitant. Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Yiddish leytn ‘to solder’ + the agent suffix -ner (see Leitman).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German vuhs, German Fuchs ‘fox’, nickname for a sly or cunning person, or for someone with red hair. This name is widespread throughout central Europe. As a Jewish name, it is mainly an ornamental name.

South German (also common in the Czech lands): topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of bare, uncultivated land, from Middle High German (o)ed(e) ‘wasteland’. It may also be a habitational name from any of the numerous places named with this element.

German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a fisherman, from Fisch + the agent suffix -er. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.

South German: variant of Schmidt.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a weaver, Middle High German wëber, German Weber, an agent derivative of weben ‘to weave’. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, being found for example as a Czech, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian name.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tailor, literally ‘cutter’, from Middle High German snider, German Schneider, Yiddish shnayder. The same term was sometimes used to denote a woodcutter. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Schwartz.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived on a corner or occupational name for someone who kept a corner shop or farmed a corner of land, from an agent derivative of Winkel 1. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, being found for example as a Czech, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian name.

German and Dutch: variant spelling of Mayer 2. This surname is also established in Italy. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Meyer 2.

occupational name for a mounted soldier or knight, from Middle Low German rider, Middle High German riter ‘rider’. variant of Reuter 1. habitational name for someone from any of various places in Germany and Austria called Reit or Reith (see Reith).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German smit, German Schmied ‘blacksmith’. The German surname is found in many other parts of Europe, from Slovenia to Sweden.

German, Czech (Maýr), and Slovak (Majer): variant of Meyer 1. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Meyer 2.

Scottish, English, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a tall person, from Older Scots, Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle German, and Danish lang ‘long’, Swedish lång. Hungarian: from láng ‘flame’, hence probably a nickname for a passionate person, or a man with a fighting spirit. Alternatively it may be an indirect occupational name for a smith or someone who worked with fire. Chinese : from the name of a place called Lang City in the state of Lu, founded during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc) by a grandson of the ruler. His descendants lived there and adopted Lang as their surname. Vietnamese (Lãng): unexplained.

German and Swiss German (also Baumgärtner): occupational name for someone who owned or worked in an orchard, from an agent derivative of Baumgarten, or habitational name for someone from any of various minor places called Baumgarten.

German: reduced form of Widmer. German: occupational name from Middle High German wimmer ‘wine maker’. German: nickname from Middle High German wim(m)er ‘knotty growth on a tree trunk’. German: variant of Weimer 2. English: from the Old English personal name Winem?r, a compound of wine ‘friend’ + m?r ‘famous’.

German (chiefly Bavaria): topographic name for someone living by a water meadow, German Au, or a habitational name for someone from a place named Au or Aue.

South German: topographic name for someone who lived on a corner (either a street corner, or the corner of a valley running around a mountain), from an altered form of Eck + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant. Dutch and German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements agi ‘point (of a sword)’ + heri ‘army’. South German(Swabia): occupational name for a farmer, from an agent derivative of eggen ‘to harrow’. English: variant of Edgar 1.

English, Danish, and German: from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with a first element wolf ‘wolf’, or a byname or nickname with this meaning. The wolf was native throughout the forests of Europe, including Britain, until comparatively recently. In ancient and medieval times it played an important role in Germanic mythology, being regarded as one of the sacred beasts of Woden. This name is widespread throughout northern, central, and eastern Europe, as well as in Britain and German-speaking countries. German: habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a wolf, Middle High German wolf. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Volf meaning ‘wolf’, which is associated with the Hebrew personal name Binyamin (see Benjamin). This association stems from Jacob’s dying words ‘Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil’ (Genesis 49:27). Irish: variant spelling of Woulfe.

status name for a feudal tenant or vassal, Middle High German lehenære ‘feudal tenant’, ‘vassal’. Compare Lehmann. habitational name for someone from any of several places called Lehen, especially in Bavaria.

German: variant of Waldner. This name is also established in Sweden.

South German: variant spelling of Eigner.

South German: topographic name for someone who lived on a piece of flat ground or a plateau, from Middle High German ebene ‘plateau’ + -er, suffix denoting an inhabitant.

Dutch, German, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle Dutch, Middle High German hase, German Hase ‘hare’, hence a nickname for a swift runner or a timorous or confused person, but in some cases perhaps a habitational name from a house distinguished by the sign of a hare. As a Jewish name it can also be an ornamental name or one of names selected at random from vocabulary words by government officials when surnames became compulsory.

South German: variant of the occupational name Kohler. South German: from Middle High German kolli(e)r ‘leather harness’, ‘horse collar’, ‘neck piece of garment of armor’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a harness maker or armorer. German (Köller): Westphalian habitational name for someone from Cologne (German Köln); Kölle is the Rhenish dialect form of the place name.

German: status name for a feudal tenant or vassal, from an agent derivative of Middle High German lehen ‘to hold land as a feudal tenant’. variant of Leonhardt.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a maker or repairer of shoes, Middle High German schuochsutære (a compound of schuoch ‘shoe’ + sutære ‘one who sews’), German Schuster, Yiddish shuster.

German: status name from Middle High German grave, grabe, which was used as a title denoting various more or less aristocratic dignitaries and officials. In later times it became established as a title of nobility equivalent to the Romance count. The vocabulary word also denoted a variety of different minor local functionaries in different parts of Germany. In the Grand Duchy of Hesse, for example, it was used for the holder of the comparatively humble office of village headman. Compare Mayer, Schultz, and Vogt. The surname could have originated from any of these senses or be an occupational name for a servant or retainer of a count, or a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces. Variant spelling of Dutch Graef. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name selected, like Herzog and other words denoting titles, because of their aristocratic connotations.

German (also Hölzer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Holtzer.

Muslim: variant spelling of Haidar. South German: habitational name for someone from a place called Haid, or a topographic name for someone who lived on a heath (see Heid).

South German: habitational name for someone from any of various minor places in Bavaria and Austria called Lacken. Americanized spelling of German Lachner.

German: topographic or habitational name (see Wiese).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone living by a main street or highway, from Middle High German strasse, German Strasse ‘street’, ‘road’. Slovenian: phonetically Germanized spelling of Slovenian Stražar, occupational name for a sentinel, from an agent derivative of straža ‘watch’, ‘guard’, ‘sentry’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German koch, German Koch ‘cook’ (cognate with Latin coquus). The name in this sense is widespread throughout eastern and central Europe, and is also well established in Denmark. Czech and Slovak: from a pet form of any of several medieval personal names beginning with Ko-, for example Kochan, Kocián, Kojata, and Kosmas. Polish: nickname from kochac ‘to love’ (see Kochan).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with white hair or a remarkably pale complexion, from Middle High German wiz ‘white’, German weiss. German: variant of Weis. German: habitational name from any of various places named Weis(s) or Weissen. German: from a short form of a Germanic personal name formed with wig ‘battle’ or widu ‘wood’ as the first element.

South German: apparently a noun derivative of (ge-)rinnen ‘to flow or run’, applied as a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or installed wooden drainage channels and gutters.

German: from Middle High German keiser ‘emperor’, from the Latin imperial title Caesar. This was the title borne by Holy Roman Emperors from Otto I (962) to Francis II (who relinquished the title in 1806). Later, it was borne by the monarch of Bismarck’s united Germany (1871–1918). It is very common as a German surname, originating partly as an occupational name for a servant in the Emperor’s household, partly as a nickname for someone who behaved in an imperious manner, and partly from a house sign. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Kaiser ‘emperor’, adopted (like Graf, Herzog, etc.) because of its aristocratic connotations. Muslim: from Arabic qay?sar ‘emperor’, which, like 1, is of Latin origin, from the imperial title in the Roman Empire.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a merchant or wholesaler (see Kaufer). Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Kaufman.

German, Slovenian, English, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a lively and cheerful person, or, in the case of the Jewish name, an ornamental name, from a Germanic word meaning ‘finch’ (see Finch). As a Slovenian surname, it may also be a translation into German of the Slovenian surname Šinkovec (from an old spelling of šcinkovec or šcinkavec ‘finch’).

English, German, Danish, and Swedish: nickname or byname for someone of a frosty or gloomy temperament, from Middle English, Middle High German, Danish, Swedish winter (Old English winter, Old High German wintar, Old Norse vetr). The Swedish name can be ornamental. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Winter ‘winter’, either an ornamental name or one of the group of names denoting the seasons, which were distributed at random by government officials. Compare Summer, Fruhling, and Herbst. Irish: Anglicized form ( part translation) of Gaelic Mac Giolla-Gheimhridh ‘son of the lad of winter’, from geimhreadh ‘winter’. This name is also Anglicized McAlivery. Mistranslation of French Livernois, which is in fact a habitational name, but mistakenly construed as l’hiver ‘winter’.

German: occupational name for a farmer (Middle High German gebur(e)) who owned his farm, Middle High German hof, or who farmed in the service of a court, Middle High German hof.

Irish: reduced form of McCarron. German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German kerne ‘kernel’, ‘seed’, ‘pip’; Middle Dutch kern(e), keerne; German Kern or Yiddish kern ‘grain’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a farmer, or a nickname for a small person. As a Jewish surname, it is mainly ornamental. English: probably a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of hand mills, from Old English cweorn ‘hand mill’, or a habitational name for someone from Kern in the Isle of Wight, named from this word.

German (also Häuser) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German hus ‘house’, German Haus, + the suffix -er, denoting someone who gives shelter or protection. Compare Hausmann. variant of Hausen.

Scottish: occupational name for an officer of the courts whose functions resembled those of an English beadle (i.e. a minor official who dealt with petty offenders) and who was known as a mair. Compare Mayer 1. Reaney remarks that this title was used not only of the king’s herald or sergeant but also of such officers as a head forester. Jewish: variant of Meyer 2.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a builder of walls of stone or brick, from an agent derivative of Middle High German mure, German Mauer ‘wall’ (from Latin murus ‘wall’, especially a city wall). In the Middle Ages the majority of dwellings were built of wood (or lath and plaster), and this term would have specifically denoted someone employed in building defensive walls, castles, churches, and other public buildings.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Hoffmann. The surname in this spelling is also found in Denmark.

Southern German: from a pet form of the personal name Siegfried. Compare Siegel.

German: from a pet form of Friedrich. It is also found as a surname in Denmark, Sweden, and elsewhere.

from South German dialect Karner ‘charnel house’, hence a metonymic occupational name for an undertaker. in northern Germany, a metonymic occupational name for a peddler who used a handcart or barrow, from Karren ‘cart’ + the -er agent suffix. possibly a variant of Kerner or Körner (see Koerner) or an altered spelling of Garner, Gerner.

German (Bavarian): variant of Hackel.

German: variant of Riegel, with the addition of the agent suffix -er.

Dutch and German: nickname for a quick, lively person, from Middle Low German rasch ‘quick’, ‘strong’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived on the fringe of a village or settlement, from the oblique case of Middle High German ort in the sense ‘tip’, ‘extremity’ (see Ort 3) + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant. In the Austrian Tyrol the name denoted a person who worked in a salt mine.

German (of Slavic origin): from a pet form of of any of the many personal names composed with Slavic bog ‘god’. South German (Austrian): nickname for a short, stocky person, from Middle High German busch, Bavarian and Austrian bosch ‘shrubbery’. In Tyrol Posch denotes a flowering shrub and appears on house signs. Eastern German, of Slavic origin (also Pösch): from a short form of Peter or any of various other personal names beginning with P-.

habitational name for someone from any of several places called Reising or Reisingen in Bavaria. occupational name for a soldier, from Middle High German reisinc ‘warrior’, literally ‘traveler’. in the south a topographic name, from Middle High German ris ‘branch’, ‘shrubbery’, denoting someone who lived near a thicket or underbrush.

German and Austrian: topographic name for someone who lived near or worked in a barn, from Middle High German schober ‘barn’, ‘haystack’.

South German: variant of Riedel.

German: from Kogel + the agent or habitational suffix -er. This name is also found in Hungary and eastern Slovenia.

Variant spelling of the English family name Rayner, or variant of the French cognate Rainier. German: variant of Reiner.

South German: from a pet form of the personal name Friedrich.

German: epithet for a settler who was new to an area, from Middle High German niu(we) ‘new’ + (ge)bure ‘settler’, ‘resident’, ‘peasant’ (see Bauer). Jewish: either an adoption of the German surname (Jews were not usually agricultural workers at the time when surnames were acquired) or an artificial creation of a name from the German vocabulary word without any relationship to the actual occupation of the first Jewish bearer.

German, Dutch (also de Klein(e)) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German, Dutch, German klein ‘small’, or Yiddish kleyn. This was a nickname for a person of small stature, but is also often found as a distinguishing name for a junior male, usually a son, in names such as Kleinhans and Kleinpeter. This name is common and widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.

German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ethnic or regional name for someone from Franconia (German Franken), a region of southwestern Germany so called from its early settlement by the Franks, a Germanic people who inhabited the lands around the river Rhine in Roman times. In the 6th–9th centuries, under leaders such as Clovis I (c. 466–511) and Charlemagne (742–814), the Franks established a substantial empire in western Europe, from which the country of France takes its name. The term Frank in eastern Mediterranean countries was used, in various vernacular forms, to denote the Crusaders and their descendants, and the American surname may also be an Americanized form of such a form. English, Dutch, German, etc.: from the personal name Frank, in origin an ethnic name for a Frank. This also came be used as an adjective meaning ‘free’, ‘open-hearted’, ‘generous’, deriving from the fact that in Frankish Gaul only people of Frankish race enjoyed the status of fully free men. It was also used as a Jewish personal name.

German: topographic name from Middle High German graben ‘ditch’, ‘moat’ or a habitational name from a place named with this word, the -er suffix denoting an inhabitant. German (Gräbner): variant of Graber. Slovenian (eastern Slovenia): topographic name from a derivative of graben ‘small ravine’, a German borrowing that replaced the Slovenian word grapa with the same meaning.

Hungarian (Horváth) and Jewish (from Hungary): ethnic name for a Croat, from Hungarian Horvát (Croatian Hrvat). Compare Horvat. Additionally, this is found as a nickname for a Hungarian who lived in Croatia, who had dealings with Croatia, or who often traveled there. The Croats were one of the Slavic peoples who settled in what was then the Roman province of Pannonia in the 7th century ad. From 1091 to 1526 Croatia was under Hungarian rule. As a Jewish name, this indicates provenance from Croatia.

German, Jewish (Ashkenazic), and Slovenian: ethnic name for a Hungarian or a nickname for someone who had trade relations with Hungary, from the ethnic term Unger ‘Hungarian’ (see Ungar).

South German: variant of Hartle.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a carpenter, Middle High German zimbermann (a compound of zimber, zim(m)er ‘timber’, ‘wood’ + mann ‘man’), German Zimmermann.

Austrian: Tyrolean dialect form of Kuntz.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): status name for a steward on a farm or estate, from German hof(f) ‘manorfarm’, ‘courtyard’ + Mann ‘man’. Originally, this was a status name for a farmer who owned his own land as opposed to holding it by rent or feudal obligation, but the name soon came to denote the manager or steward of a manor farm, in which sense it is extremely frequent throughout central and eastern Europe; also among Jews, since many Jews held managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, not only in German-speaking lands.

English and Irish: variant of Summer. German and Danish: from Middle German sumer, Danish, Norwegian sommer ‘summer’, a nickname for someone of a warm disposition, or for someone associated with the season in some other way or from living in a sunny place, in some instances a metonymic occupational name for a basketweaver or a drummer, from Middle High German sum(b)er, sum(m)er ‘basket’, ‘basketry’, ‘drum’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Sommer ‘summer’. Like the other seasonal names, this was also one of the group of names that were bestowed on Jews more or less at random by government officials in 18th- and 19th-century central Europe.

Dutch and North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of hag ‘hedge’, ‘enclosure’ + hari, heri ‘army’. from a Germanic personal name, Hadugar, composed of the elements hadu- ‘combat’, ‘strife’ + gari, from garwa ‘ready’, ‘eager’. German (also Häger): topographic name for someone who lived by a hedged or fenced enclosure, Middle High German hac. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a thin man, from Middle High German, German hager ‘thin’, ‘gaunt’. English: occupational name for a woodcutter, from an agent derivative of Middle English haggen ‘to cut or chop’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of numerous places called Lindenau, Linde, Linden, or Linda. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Linde ‘lime tree’ + the agent suffix -ner.

German: habitational name for someone from any of various places in Bavaria and Austria called Wiesing.

South German: topographic name from Middle High German tal ‘valley’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. Germanized form of Slovenian surname Dolar, a topographic name for someone who lived in a valley, from dol ‘valley’, a word of German origin.

German: occupational name or status name for an arbiter or judge, Middle High German rihtære (from rihten ‘to make right’). The term was used in the Middle Ages mostly to denote a part-time legal official. Such communal conciliators held a position of considerable esteem in rural communities; in eastern Germany the term came to denote a village headman, which was often a hereditary office. It is in this region that the surname is most frequent. Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a rabbinic judge, from modern German Richter ‘judge’ (see 1 above). See also Dayan.

German (Austria): habitational name for someone from any of several places named Hasling in Bavaria.

German: habitational name for someone from Steiningen in the Rhineland or Steining in Bavaria.

German, Dutch, Jewish (Ashkenazic): status name for a peasant or a nickname meaning ‘neighbor’, ‘fellow citizen’ (see Bauer).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from an agent derivative of Middle High German pfif(e), German Pfeife ‘whistle’, ‘pipe’, hence an occupational name for a pipe player.

German: from the Middle High German title of nobility herzoge ‘duke’ (Old High German herizoho, from heri ‘army’ + ziohan ‘to lead’, a calque of the Byzantine title stratelates ‘general’, ‘commander’, from Greek stratos ‘army’ + elaunein ‘to lead’). The name is unlikely to refer to descent from an actual duke; it is normally an occupational name for the servant of a duke or a nickname for one who put on the airs and graces of a duke. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Herzog ‘duke’. Compare Graf and Kaiser.

German, Swedish, and English: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements wald ‘rule’ + heri, hari ‘army’. The personal name was introduced into England from France by the Normans in the form Walt(i)er, Waut(i)er.

South German: nickname for a small man, from Middle High German man ‘man’ + the diminutive suffix -l. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Mandel 1, 4.

Dutch and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Kramer. German: from an old personal name formed with Old High German hrabo ‘raven’. Possibly a variant of German Kramer.

variant of Koffler. old form of Käufler, an occupational name for a trader or salesman.

variant of Rau. perhaps an occupational nickname for a blacksmith or charcoal burner, from Middle High German rouch, German Rauch ‘smoke’, or, in the case of the German name, a status name or nickname relating to a hearth tax (i.e. a tax that was calculated according to the number of fireplaces in each individual home).

Serbian (Jovanovic): patronymic from the personal name Jovan, vernacular form of Greek Ioannes (see John).

German, English, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German hamer, Yiddish hamer, a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of hammers, for example in a forge, or nickname for a forceful person. English and German: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream, Old English hamm, Old High German ham (see Hamm) + the English and German agent suffix -er. Norwegian: variant of Hamar.

South German: occupational name for a fence maker, Middle High German ziuner. In particular, the term denoted the enclosure surrounding a village as a defense against marauding animals and strangers, and in some cases the name may have been topographic for someone who lived by such a fence.

German: from Middle High German hane ‘rooster’, hence a nickname for a conceited or sexually active man. In some instances it may have been a habitational name from a house bearing the sign of a rooster. German: patronymic from a reduced form of the personal name Johannes (see John). This surname is also found in Denmark and Sweden. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Hahn ‘rooster’, one of the many Ashkenazic surnames based on vocabulary words denoting birds or animals.

Dutch and German: from a medieval personal name, probably a short form of Eckhard (see Eckert). German: topographic name for someone who lived in a corner house or kept a corner shop, from Middle High German ecke ‘corner’ + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Eck 1. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): occupational name from a Yiddish dialect eker ‘(wood)cutter’, ‘chopper’. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Ecker ‘beechnut’.

South German: topographic name for a dweller by a meadow or village green (see Anger) or a habitational name for someone from any of numerous places in Bavaria named with this word.

Czech and Slovak, Croatian and Serbian, Slovenian, Hungarian (Novák), and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from Slavic novy ‘new’, denoting a newcomer to a place. Compare English Newman. Slovenian: also a topographic name for a peasant who settled on newly cleared land.

German: from the Germanic personal name Konrad, composed of the elements kuoni ‘daring’, ‘experienced’ + rad, rat ‘counsel’. This fell together at an early date with another Germanic name, of which the first element was chunni, kuni ‘race’, ‘people’. Konrad was extremely popular as a personal name in central Europe during the Middle Ages, being a hereditary name in several princely families as well as enjoying widespread popularity among the people at large. It was also adopted as a surname by Ashkenazic Jews, Slovenians, and others.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): regional name for someone from Swabia (German Schwaben), from Middle High German Swap, German Schwabe ‘Swabian’. The region takes its name from a Germanic tribe recorded from the 1st century bc in the Latin form Suebi or Suevi, of uncertain origin; it was an independent duchy from the 10th century until 1313, when the territory was broken up.

South German (Austria): diminutive of Stang 2.

German: literally ‘cutter’ or ‘chopper’, Middle High German houwer (an agent derivative of houwen ‘to chop’), an occupational name for a woodcutter, a butcher, or a stonemason.

German: variant of Feldner or Fellman.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Kurtz.

(Austria, Bavaria): topographic name for someone who lived by a well, putz (Latin puteus). (Pütz; Rhineland): from pütz ‘well’ (see 1), or a habitational name from a place so named in Luxembourg. (Austria): from a pet form of the personal name Burghard. nickname from a byname for the devil. See also Butz.

South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from any of various places called Holzing or Holzingen.

South German: habitational name for someone from Mayerhof in Bavaria, or from any of the numerous farms named Mayerhof, Maierhof, or Meyerhof.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from German braun ‘brown’ (Middle High German brun), referring to the color of the hair, complexion, or clothing, or from the personal name Bruno, which was borne by the Dukes of Saxony, among others, from the 10th century or before. It was also the name of several medieval German and Italian saints, including St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order (1030–1101), who was born in Cologne.

English: metonymic occupational name for a dyer or seller of dye, from Middle English mad(d)er ‘madder’ (Old English mædere), a pink to red dye obtained from the roots of the madder plant. German and Dutch (Mader, Mäder): occupational name for a reaper or mower, Middle High German mader, mæder, Middle Dutch mader. French (southwestern and southeastern): metonymic occupational name for a carpenter.

English: nickname for a fierce or cruel man, from Middle English grill(e) ‘angry’, ‘vicious’ (from Old English gryllan ‘to rage’, ‘to gnash the teeth’; compare 4). German: nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle High German grille ‘cricket’ (Old High German grillo, from Late Latin grillus, Greek gryllos). The insect is widely supposed to be of a cheerful disposition, no doubt because of its habit of infesting hearths and warm places. The vocabulary word is confined largely to southern Germany and Austria, and it is in this region that the surname is most frequent. German: habitational name from any of eight places in Upper Bavaria and Austria, perhaps so named from Middle High German grille ‘cricket’. North German: nickname for an angry man from Middle Low German grellen ‘to be furious’, ‘to shriek’. Compare 1.

German and Czech: from the personal name Zach, a short form of Zacharias. The Czech form is Zachariáš. German: nickname from Middle High German zach ‘tenacious’, ‘stubborn’.

English (chiefly Berkshire): from Middle English planke ‘plank’ (Late Latin planca). It is not clear how this word was applied as a surname: it may be a topographic name for someone who lived near a plank bridge over a stream, a metonymic occupational name for a carpenter, or a nickname for a thin person. North German: nickname for a cantankerous person, from Middle Low German plank ‘quarrel’, ‘discord’. North German: metonymic occupational name from Middle Low German plank ‘measure for liquids’. South German: topographic name from Middle High German plank ‘plank’, ‘palisade’. South German: nickname for a fair-haired person, from a variant of Middle High German blanc ‘light’, ‘shining’.

South German: variant of Ertel. The name in this spelling is also found in Slovenia.

South German: diminutive of Stein with intrusive -d-.

North German and Danish: variant of Hart 1. German: from a Germanic compound personal name composed of the elements hard ‘hard’, ‘strong’ + man ‘man’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): see Hartman.

German: nickname from Middle High German wurm, Middle Low German worm ‘worm’, ‘snake’, ‘dragon’, ‘mythical beast’.

German: topographic name from Middle High German riet ‘damp, mossy ground’, ‘wet land’ + -er suffix denoting an inhabitant, or habitational name from any of the numerous places named with this word.

South German and Austrian: occupational name for a potter, Middle High German hafner, an agent derivative of Middle High German hafen ‘pot’, ‘dish’. This is the normal term for the occupation in southeastern Germany and Austria, and the German surname is found mainly in this area, also in Slovenia.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): descriptive epithet for a wise person or counselor, from Middle High German rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, German Rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, also ‘stock’, ‘supply’. German (also Swiss Räth): from a short form of any of the various Germanic compound personal names formed with rad, rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’ as the first element. German (Rhineland): habitational name from any of various places called Rath, which derives from Middle Low German roden, raden ‘to clear land for cultivation’. Irish: in some cases a habitational name from a place called Rath; in County Derry it is a reduced form of McIlwraith (see McIlrath).

German, Dutch, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a tall man, from an inflected form of Lang. According to Gottschald, in the Franconian dialect of German this was also a term for an unskilled laborer (more fully, Handlanger).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with curly hair, from Middle High German krus ‘curly’, ‘crinkly’, German kraus.

topographic name for someone living by a tree stump (see Stock 2) or an occupational name for a tree cutter, from Middle High German stocken ‘to clear land’. from Middle High German stocker ‘jailer’.

German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a newcomer to a place, from Middle High German niuwe, German neu ‘new’ + Middle High German man, German Mann ‘man’.

German: occupational name or status name from the German word Knapp(e), a variant of Knabe ‘young unmarried man’. In the 15th century this spelling acquired the separate, specialized meanings ‘servant’, ‘apprentice’, or ‘miner’. German: in Franconia, a nickname for a dexterous or skillful person. English: topographic name for someone who lived by a hillock, Middle English knappe, Old English cnæpp, or habitational name from any of the several minor places named with the word, in particular Knapp in Hampshire and Knepp in Sussex. German and western Slavic: variant of Knabe.

South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Platz 1, with -er suffix denoting an inhabitant.

from a reduced form of the personal name Rüdiger (see Rudiger). nickname from Middle High German rüegære, rüeger ‘complainer’ (earlier ‘prosecutor’).

South German: habitational name for someone from any of several places in Bavaria and Styria named Stocking.

South German and Austrian: from Middle High German vaschanc ‘Shrovetide carnival’, possibly a nickname for an exuberant, high-spirited person or for someone born between the end of Christmas and the start of Lent.

German, Swiss, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived in a side street or alley (see Gasser). Swiss German: variant of the occupational name Geisner ‘goatherd’.

German, Scandinavian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): regional name for someone from Bavaria (German Bayern). This region of southern Germany derives its name from that of the Celtic tribe of the Boii who once inhabited this area. They were displaced in the 6th century ad by a Germanic people, the Boioarii or Baiuarii, whose name is derived from that of their Celtic predecessors.

Scottish, northern English, and German: from an Old English personal name composed of the elements os ‘god’ + weald ‘power’. In the Middle English period, this fell together with the less common Old Norse cognate Ásvaldr. The name was introduced to Germany from England, as a result of the fame of St. Oswald, a 7th-century king of Northumbria, whose deeds were reported by Celtic missionaries to southern Germany. The name was also borne by a 10th-century English saint of Danish parentage, who was important as a monastic reformer. Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó hEodhusa (see Hussey 1).

German and English: topographic name for someone who lived or worked at a hall. from Hall + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. Swiss German: topographic name, a variant of Halter 1. German: variant of Heller 1.

German and Jewish: variant spelling of Pfeiffer. This spelling of the surname is also found in Slovenia.

German (also Kästner): from Middle High German kastner, kestner, an occupational name for the steward of a granary (kornkasten) and hence, since general taxation developed from taxes on grain, a steward or treasurer responsible for financial matters at a court, monastery, or other institution. German (also Kästner) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a joiner or furniture maker, from South German Kasten ‘box’, ‘chest’. Compare Kistner.

German: nickname from Middle High German prinze ‘prince’, presumably denoting someone who behaved in a regal manner or who had won the title in some contest of skill. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental adoption of German Prinz ‘prince’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a hatter from an agent derivative of Middle High German huot ‘hat’; Yiddish hut, German Hut ‘hat’. German (Hütter): topographic name from Middle High German hütte ‘hut’. English: when not of German origin (see above), perhaps a variant of Hotter, an occupational name for a basket maker, Middle English hottere; the same term also denoted someone who carried baskets of sand for making mortar. Alternatively it may have denoted someone who lived in a hut or shed, from a derivative of Middle English hotte, hutte ‘hut’, ‘shed’.

German (Schläger) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from an agent derivative of Middle High German, German schlagen ‘to strike’, hence an occupational nickname for a craftsman whose work involved striking or beating something, such as metal.

German: nickname for a man of blustery temperament, from Middle High German sturm ‘storm’. It is also found in Slovenia, where it is commonly spelled Šturm. Dutch: variant of Storm. Dutch: from the Germanic personal name Sturm, Sturmi. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Sturm ‘storm’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a person with red hair, from Middle High German rot, German rot ‘red’. As a Jewish surname it is also at least partly ornamental: its frequency as a Jewish surname is disproportionate to the number of Jews who, one may reasonably assume, were red-headed during the period of surname adoption. German and English: topographic name for someone who lived on land that had been cleared, Old High German rod, Old English rod, roð. German: from a short form of any of the various Germanic personal names with the first element hrod ‘renown’. Compare Rode 1, Ross 3.

habitational name for someone from Rausch in Bavaria or from Rauscha in Silesia or from Rausche in the former East Prussia. variant of Rausch with the addition of the agent suffix -er.

German and Swiss German (also Gässer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived in a side street or alley, from a derivative of Middle High German gazze, German Gasse, Yiddish gas.

Croatian and Serbian (Petrovic); Slovenian (Petrovic): patronymic from the personal names Petar (Croatian and Serbian) or Peter (Slovenian) (see Peter).

English and German: topographic name for someone living near a hilltop or mountain peak, from Middle English knolle ‘hilltop’, ‘hillock’ (Old English cnoll), Middle High German knol ‘peak’. In some cases the English name is habitational, from one of the many places named with this word, for example Knole in Kent or Knowle in Dorset, West Midlands, etc. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a peasant or a crude clumsy person, from Middle High German knolle ‘lump’, ‘clod’, German Knolle.

German: diminutive of Haber.

German: occupational name for a joiner, from Middle High German schrinære, schriner, an agent derivative of schrin ‘chest’, ‘box’. This word and surname are found mainly in southern and southwestern parts of Germany.

German, Dutch, Spanish (northern Spain), Jewish: from a vernacular form (German Laurenz, Dutch Laurens, Catalan Lorenç) of the Latin personal name Laurentius (see Lawrence). As a Jewish surname, it is probably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Ashkenazic names.

German: ethnic name from windisch ‘Slovenian’. This surname is found mainly in Austria and in Slovenia itself, where it is commonly spelled Vindiš.

German: variant of Vogel.

German: ethnic name given in areas of mixed population to inhabitants speaking German rather than a Slavic language, from German Deutsch German (Middle High German tiu(t)sch, Old High German diutisk, from diot, deot, ‘people’, ‘nation’, from a Germanic root theudo). Jewish (Ashkenazic): regional name for someone who had migrated from a German-speaking area to another part of Europe.

German: topographic name from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant, or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word, for example Bach or Bachern. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Bachar. Danish: probably of German origin (see 1). Respelling of Norwegian Bakker, a habitational name from any of the farmsteads so named (see Back). English: variant of Baker.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tiler, from an agent derivative of Middle High German ziegel ‘roof tile’ (Old High German ziagal, from Latin tegula), German Ziegel. In the Middle Ages the term came to denote bricks as well as tiles, and so in some cases the term may have denoted a brickmaker or bricklayer rather than a tiler.

English, Scottish, German, Dutch, etc.: from the personal name Peter (Greek Petros, from petra ‘rock’, ‘stone’). The name was popular throughout Christian Europe in the Middle Ages, having been bestowed by Christ as a byname on the apostle Simon bar Jonah, the brother of Andrew. The name was chosen by Christ for its symbolic significance (John 1:42, Matt. 16:18); St. Peter is regarded as the founding head of the Christian Church in view of Christ’s saying, ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church’. In Christian Germany in the early Middle Ages this was the most frequent personal name of non-Germanic origin until the 14th century. This surname has also absorbed many cognates in other languages, for example Czech Petr, Hungarian Péter. It has also been adopted as a surname by Ashkenazic Jews.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from a place called Weinberg or Weinberge (see Weinberg).

German: occupational name for a drummer or trumpeter, from the agent derivative of Middle High German trumme, trumbe ‘drum’, ‘trumpet’.

German, Dutch, Scandinavian, and eastern and southern Slavic: from the personal name Karl, from a common Germanic word, Old High German karl ‘man’, ‘husband’, ‘freeman’. See also Carl and Charles. The popularity of this name and its cognates in central and northern Europe was greatly enhanced by its status as a royal and imperial name; in particular it was bestowed in honor of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne (in Latin, Carolus Magnus).

German, English, and Dutch: status name for a freeman of a borough, especially one who was a member of its governing council, a derivative of Middle High German burc, Middle English burg ‘(fortified) town’, Middle Dutch burch. The English name is found occasionally as a surname from the 13th century onwards but is not recorded as a vocabulary word until the 16th century. The usual English term was the Old French word burgeis ‘burgess’ (see Burgess). This name is frequent throughout central and eastern Europe. It also occurs as an Ashkenazic Jewish family name, but the reasons for its adoption are uncertain. German: habitational name for someone from any of the many places called Burg.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a gatherer of mushrooms, from Middle High German bül(e)z, German Pilz ‘mushroom’.

English, Scottish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Gavriel ‘God has given me strength’. This was borne by an archangel in the Bible (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), who in the New Testament announced the impending birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26–38). It has been a comparatively popular personal name in all parts of Europe, among both Christians and Jews, during the Middle Ages and since. Compare Michael and Raphael. It was the name of a famous patriarch and archbishop of Serbia (died 1659). In Russia it was the official Christian name of St. Vsevolod (died 1138). In the U.S. this name has absorbed cognate names from other European languages, for example the Greek patronymics Gabrielis, Gabrielatos, Gabrielidis, Gabrielakos, Gabrieloglou.

German: variant of Thurn, + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.

German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements heri, hari ‘army’ + man ‘man’. The surname is also borne by Ashkenazic Jews, probably as an adoption of the German surname.

German: from a personal name, in which two originally distinct names have fallen together: a pet form of the personal name Lorenz, and the Germanic personal name Lanzo, which was originally a short form of any of several compound names with land ‘land’ as the first element, e.g. Lambrecht (see Lambert). German: nickname from Middle High German lenz e ‘spring’ from lang ‘long’, since in this season the days grow longer. The name may also have been bestowed on someone who was born in the spring or who owed rent or service at that time of year, or it may have denoted someone who was of a sunny and spring-like disposition. German: habitational name from any of several places named Lenz. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Lenz ‘spring’ (see 2), one of the class of ornamental names adopted from words denoting the seasons. Compare Summer, Winter, Herbst, Fruhling.

German: variant of Rabe.

Polish and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname for a newcomer to a district or someone new to a profession or occupation, from a derivative of Polish nowy ‘new’. This is an extremely common Polish surname.

German: occupational name for a clerk, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schriben ‘to write’ (via Old High German from Latin scribere). Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schreiber, Yiddish shrayber ‘writer’, adopted as a translation of Hebrew Soffer ‘scribe’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a maker or repairer of shoes, from Middle High German schuoch, German Schuh ‘shoe’; sometimes from a house name.

South German: occupational name for someone who owned or worked in a tavern, Middle High German litgebe, from lit ‘punch’ (the drink, a kind of spiced wine) + gebe ‘giver’, ‘pourer’.

German and Dutch: from the personal name Ernst, which is most probably a byname from Middle High German and Middle Dutch ern(e)st ‘combat’, ‘serious business’. However, see Ernest. Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname or ornamental from German ernst ‘earnest’, ‘serious’.

German: occupational name for a greengrocer or dealer in herbs, from an agent derivative of Middle High German würz ‘herb’, ‘plant’ (see Wurtz).

South German: from Middle High German lewe ‘lion’, dialect leb, used either as a nickname for a brave or regal person, or as a habitational name from a house sign. Americanized spelling of Lieb or Loeb.

German: from Middle High German rit(t)er ‘knight’, ‘mounted warrior’, Middle Low German ridder, applied as a status name, occupational name, or nickname. Compare Knight.

German: from a personal name composed of the Germanic elements frid, fred ‘peace’ + ric ‘power’. The name was borne by a canonized 9th-century bishop of Utrecht, and was a hereditary name among the Hohenstaufen ruling family; hence its popularity in central Europe.

Serbian and Croatian (Nikolic): patronymic from the personal name Nikola, Serbian and Croatian form of Nicholas.

German (southern and eastern) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for someone who made or laid wooden roof tiles, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schindel, German Schindel ‘shingle’. South German: habitational name from places named Schindel or Schindeln (see Schindel).

English: topographic name for someone who lived beside a stream, from northern Middle English bekke ‘stream’ (Old Norse bekkr). English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of various places in northern France, for example Bec Hellouin in Eure, named with Old Norman French bec ‘stream’, from the same Old Norse root as in 1. English: probably a nickname for someone with a prominent nose, from Middle English beke ‘beak (of a bird)’ (Old French bec). English: metonymic occupational name for a maker, seller, or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from Old English becca. In some cases the name may represent a survival of an Old English byname derived from this word. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker, a cognate of Baker, from (older) South German beck, West Yiddish bek. Some Jewish bearers of the name claim that it is an acronym of Hebrew ben-kedoshim ‘son of martyrs’, i.e. a name taken by one whose parents had been martyred for being Jews. North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, from Low German Beke ‘stream’. Compare the High German form Bach 1. Scandinavian: habitational name for someone from a farmstead named Bekk, Bæk, or Bäck, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a stream.

German: variant spelling of Kreutzer.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a new innkeeper, from Middle High German niuwe ‘new’ + wirt and German neu + Wirt ‘master of a house’, ‘innkeeper’.

German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German kelnære, Middle Dutch kel(le)nare, German Kellner ‘cellarman’. This term developed various specialized senses: a steward, an overseer in a castle, monastery, or the like, and in modern usage, a wine waiter.

from a short form of the personal name Dankwart, from Old High German thank ‘think’, ‘thank’, ‘thought’ + wart ‘guardian’. South German: nickname for a left-handed or clumsy person, from Middle High German tenk ‘left’. variant of Denke.

German: habitational name for someone from any of several southern German places named Eiching or Aiching.

German: from a personal name composed of the Germanic elements war(in) ‘guard’ + heri, hari ‘army’. Compare Warner.

German: habitational name for someone from Unterberg in Styria, Austria.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a shoemaker or cobbler, from Middle High German schuoch ‘shoe’ + würhte ‘maker’. The sound b was often substituted for v in eastern dialects of German.

German: from Middle High German hir(t)z ‘deer’, ‘stag’; a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of deer, a nickname for someone thought to resemble a deer or stag, or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a stag. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Hirsh ‘deer’, which is common because of the association of the deer with the Hebrew personal name Naphtali, deriving from the blessing by Jacob of his sons (Genesis 49: 21), in which Naphtali is referred to as ‘a hind let loose’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Hirsch or Yiddish hirsh ‘deer’, one of the many Ashkenazic surnames taken from vocabulary words denoting wildlife.

German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German brennen ‘to burn’, in various applications. Often it is an occupational name for a distiller of spirits; it may also refer to a charcoal or lime burner or to someone who cleared forests by burning. Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a distiller, from German Brenner, literally ‘burner’ (see 1). English: metathesized variant of Berner 2 and 3.

English: variant spelling of Saylor. German: variant of Seiler.

Variant of German and Jewish Siegel.

German: habitational name for someone from Lugau in Saxony and Brandenburg (of Slavic origin, from a word meaning ‘swamp’), or from any of several places named with Middle High German luoc ‘hiding place’, ‘ambush’. Lueg is a common place name in the Tyrol, and the surname is particularly frequent in Bavaria and Austria. Jewish (Ashkenazic): unexplained.

German (also Wächter) and Dutch: occupational name for a watchman, from Middle High German wachtære, wehtære, Middle Dutch wacht(e)re, German Wachter ‘watchman’, ‘guard’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Wachter ‘watchman’, perhaps an occupational name by a synagogue beadle (Yiddish shames).

South German (Bavarian and Austrian): occupational name for a wood turner, a variant of Drechsler (see Dressler).

Irish: variant spelling of Walsh. German: from the personal name Walcho. German: ethnic name, a variant of Wahl 1.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Schultz. In this spelling, it is also found as a surname in Slovenia and elsewhere.

from an agent derivative of Middle English, Middle High German rennen ‘to run’, hence an occupational name for a messenger, normally a mounted and armed military servant. variant of Rayner 1, Reiner.

occupational name from Middle Low German witman ‘council member’. from a short form of the personal name Wittich + Middle Higher German man ‘man’.

German and Swiss German (also Gläser): occupational name for a glass blower or glazier, from an agent derivative of Middle High German glas ‘glass’. This name is widespread throughout central Europe. Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a glass blower or glazier, from the German word Glaser.

German (also Dörner): habitational name for someone from places named Dorn or Dornau in Bavaria, or either of two places named Dorna, in Saxony and Thuringia.

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a path or by a plank bridge, from an agent derivative of Middle High German stec ‘steep path or track’, ‘narrow bridge’.

South German: Tyrolean form of Stauder. habitational name from a place named Stauding in the Sudeten region.

English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish (Simón), Czech and Slovak (Šimon), Slovenian, Hungarian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name, Hebrew Shim‘on, which is probably derived from the verb sham‘a ‘to hearken’. In the Vulgate and in many vernacular versions of the Old Testament, this is usually rendered Simeon. In the Greek New Testament, however, the name occurs as Simon, as a result of assimilation to the pre-existing Greek byname Simon (from simos ‘snub-nosed’). Both Simon and Simeon were in use as personal names in western Europe from the Middle Ages onward. In Christendom the former was always more popular, at least in part because of its associations with the apostle Simon Peter, the brother of Andrew. In Britain there was also confusion from an early date with Anglo-Scandinavian forms of Sigmund (see Siegmund), a name whose popularity was reinforced at the Conquest by the Norman form Simund.

German: topographic name for someone who lived in a wood, from Holz ‘wood’ + Mann ‘man’. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a woodman (see Holtzer).

German (Bavaria): variant of Reichel 1.

German and Dutch: from Middle High German meier, a status name for a steward, bailiff, or overseer, which later came to be used also to denote a tenant farmer, which is normally the sense in the many compound surnames formed with this term as a second element. Originally it denoted a village headman (ultimately from Latin maior ‘greater’, ‘superior’). Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Meyer (from Hebrew Meir ‘enlightener’, a derivative of Hebrew or ‘light’). Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Meidhir, from meidhir ‘mirth’. Danish: variant spelling of Meier 3.

South German: occupational name for a sexton, churchwarden, or verger, Middle High German mesnære (Old High German mesinari, from Late Latin ma(n)sionarius, a derivative of mansio, genitive mansionis, ‘house (of God)’, ‘church’). The double -s- is the result of association with Messe ‘Mass’.

German: derivative of Spitz, the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. Jewish (Ashkenazic): origin uncertain; possibly from Spitz.

German: variant of Schmidt; this is the form of the modern German vocabulary word for blacksmith.

English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Hungarian (Urbán), and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from a medieval personal name (Latin Urbanus meaning ‘city dweller’, a derivative of urbs ‘town’, ‘city’). The name was borne by a 4th-century saint, the patron saint of vines, and by seven early popes. The Jewish surname represents an adoption of the Polish personal name.

South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a violin player or maker, Middle High German giger (an agent derivative of gige ‘violin’), German Geiger.

German (Bavarian): from a pet form of one of the Germanic compound names formed with ragin ‘counsel’ as the first element, for example Reinhard.

German: variant spelling of Bayer.

South German: occupational name for a flax grower or seller, from Middle High German har ‘flax’ + the agent suffix -er.

English: variant of Pear. Dutch and North German: from a reduced form of the personal name Peter.

German and Czech: derivative of Klinge. German: see Klingler.

German and Jewish (southern Ashkenazic): dialect variant of Schuler. German: nickname for someone with a squint, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schilhen, schiln ‘to squint’.

nickname from Middle High German topelære ‘dice player’. habitational name for someone from either of two places called Toppel, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and in Austria.

German: habitational name for someone from any of various places named Weiding or Weidingen, for example in the Rhineland and Bavaria.

German: from the personal name, composed of Germanic adal ‘noble’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. Compare Albert. This surname is also found in Slovenia, also in the Slovenized form Albreht.

German: variant spelling of Ammann.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a big man, from Middle High German groz ‘large’, ‘thick’, ‘corpulent’, German gross. The Jewish name has been Hebraicized as Gadol, from Hebrew gadol ‘large’. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, not only in German-speaking countries. English: nickname for a big man, from Middle English, Old French gros (Late Latin grossus, of Germanic origin, thus etymologically the same word as in 1 above). The English vocabulary word did not develop the sense ‘excessively fat’ until the 16th century.

English: occupational and topographic name for someone who lived or worked in a forest (see Forrest). English: Norman French nickname or occupational name from Old French forcetier ‘cutter’, an agent noun from forcettes ‘scissors’. English: occupational name, by metathesis, from Old French fust(r)ier ‘blockmaker’ (a derivative of fustre ‘block of wood’). German (Förster): occupational and topographic name for someone who lived and worked in a forest (see Forst). Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Forst ‘forest’.

Serbian and Croatian (Markovic); Slovenian (Markovic): patronymic from the personal name Marko, a vernacular form of the personal name Marcus (see Mark).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for an attendant in or owner of a public bath house, from an agent derivative of Middle High German bat ‘bath’ (Old High German bad), German Bad. In former times, such attendants undertook a variety of functions, including blood-letting, tooth-pulling, and hair-cutting. Southern French: variant of Badié (see Badie).

German: from the Germanic personal name Tederich (Theudoricus), composed of the elements theud ‘people’, ‘race’ + ric ‘power(ful)’, ‘rich’. This surname is common throughout central and eastern Europe, particularly in the western Slavic countries. The forename occurs in a wide variety of local forms, especially in northern Germany. It is cognate with Dutch Diederik (see Dederick).

German, Dutch, Czech, Slovak (Majer), and Polish: status name for a tenant farmer, steward, overseer, or village headman, a variant spelling of German Meyer 1. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of the personal name Meyer (see Meyer 2). Danish: occupational name from meiere ‘reaper’, ‘harvester’.

German: from the personal name Franz, a vernacular form of Latin Franciscus (see Francis).

German: habitational name for someone from Zeiling in Bavaria.

Variant of German Pinder or Slovenian Pintar, variants of Binder ‘cooper’. Jewish: in England this is found as an Anglicized form of the Sephardic name Pinta. French and Hungarian (Pintér): occupational name for a maker of measures or for an official who controlled measures, from an agent derivative of Old French pinte, Hungarian pint ‘pint’, of uncertain origin. Pinter is also found as a Dutch surname, probably with the same meaning as in 3 (see Pint).

German (also Gärtner), Slovenian, Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a gardener or vintner, from an agent derivative of Middle High German garte ‘enclosure’, ‘garden’.

South German and Austrian: from the short form of the personal name Gangolf or its reversal Wolfgang, from Old High German gang- ‘gait’, ‘walk’ + wolf ‘wolf’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from personal name Heinrich, composed of the Germanic elements haim, heim ‘home’ + ric ‘power’. In the Middle Ages this was the most popular of personal names in Germany. See also Henry.

German (Tyrol, Bavaria): from platte ‘ledge’ (genitive platten) + -er suffix of habitation, hence a topographic name denoting someone who lived at a farm on a mountain ledge. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Platner.

German: variant spelling of Schrantz.

Variant spelling of German, English, or French Ammon. Slovenian: medieval occupational or status name from a respelling of Bavarian Amtmann ‘official’ (see Ammann and compare Oman).

German (also Händler) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Hendler.

German: variant of Meissner. This form is frequent also in central and eastern Europe, especially in Bohemia.

German (Neuhäuser) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Neuhaus, with the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.

variant of Weniger. variant of Wenninger.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for an embittered or cantankerous person, from Middle High German sur, German sauer ‘sour’.

German: metonymic occupational name for a bowman or for a maker or seller of bows, from Middle High German bogenære. Compare Boger.

English and German: from a Middle English personal name, Ode, in which personal names of several different origins have coalesced: principally Old English Od(d)a, Old Norse Od(d)a and Continental Germanic Odo, Otto. The first two are short forms of names with the first element Old English ord, Old Norse odd ‘point of a weapon’. The Continental Germanic names are from a short form of compound names with the first element od- ‘possessions’, ‘riches’. The situation is further confused by the fact that all of these names were Latinized as Odo. Odo was the name of the half-brother of the Conqueror, archbishop of Bayeux, who accompanied the Norman expedition to England and was rewarded with 439 confiscated manors. The German name Odo or Otto was a hereditary name in the Saxon ruling house, as well as being borne by Otto von Wittelsbach, who founded the Bavarian ruling dynasty in the 11th century, and the 12th-century Otto of Bamberg, apostle of Pomerania.

German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements land ‘land’, ‘territory’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. Compare Lambert.

German: nickname from Middle High German herb(e)st ‘harvest’. The modern German word Herbst has come to mean ‘Fall’, the time of year when the harvest takes place. The exact application of the nickname is not clear; perhaps it referred to a peasant who had certain obligations to his master at the time of the harvest, or it may have been acquired for some other anecdotal reason which is now lost. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from modern German Herbst ‘Fall’, perhaps reflecting the season when the name was first taken or given. In some cases, it seems to have been one of the group of names referring to the seasons that were distributed at random by government officials when surnames became compulsory. Compare Fruhling, Winter, and Summer.

German (also Köpp): from a North German pet form of Jakob (see Jacob). German: nickname for someone with a noticeable deformity or peculiarity of the head, from Low German Kopp ‘head’. German: from the South German dialect word Kopp (also Kapp) ‘young cock’, ‘capon’, hence possibly a nickname for a young upstart or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper or breeder of poultry or game cocks. German: habitational name from a place so called in the Eifel Mountains. Hungarian: habitational name from a place so named near Naszvad. The place name is of German origin. A small plot of land near village was named Vábrikkenkopp (from German Weg Brückenkopf) by a Hungarian soldier in the Habsburg Army, who used to stand on watch at the bridge across the Vág river. The locals had difficulty with the name and later shortened it to Kopp.

South German: occupational nickname for a member of a council made up of nine (literally, a ‘niner’), from Middle High German niun ‘nine’ + the agent suffix -er.

German (also Krämer), Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a shopkeeper, peddler, or hawker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German, Middle Low German kram ‘trading post’, ‘tent’, ‘booth’. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.

South German: variant of Schuler 1. South German (Schüller): possibly a habitational name from Schüller in the Eifel. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Schuler.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a roofer, from Middle High German, Middle Low German schiver ‘slate’, ‘shingle’, German Schiefer ‘slate’.

German: habitational name for someone from any of the places called Schneeberg.

German: variant of Kohlmann.

German: from a short form or pet form of Ludwig. South German (Lütz): from a short form of a name Luizo, Liuzo, derived from a Germanic name formed with liut- ‘people’ as the first element. French: habitational name from Lutz-en-Dunois in Eure-et-Loir. This is a common name in PA and OH.

Hungarian (Németh): ethnic name from Hungarian német ‘German’. Compare Nemec. The name is also found in Germany and Austria.

German (also found in Sweden): variant of Berg, reinforced by the addition of the suffix -man(n) ‘man’, a topographic name in most cases, but in some an occupational name for a miner.

South German, Alsatian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tanner or leatherworker, Middle High German lederære, German Lederer.

Dutch, German, and Scandinavian: from the Germanic personal name Bernhard, composed of the elements ber(n) ‘bear’ + hard ‘brave’, ‘hardy’, ‘strong’. In the 13th and 14th centuries it vied with Arnold as the most popular personal name in the Netherlands and northern Germany. It was borne by St. Bernard of Menthon (923–1008), founder of Alpine hospices and patron saint of mountaineers, whose cult accounts for the frequency of the name in Alpine regions. See also Bernard.

German: variant of Forster.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from a place in Bavaria named Buching or either of two places in Lorraine named Buchingen. The place names derive from Old High German buohha ‘beech’.

German: from Middle High German probest ‘superviser’,‘provost’ (from Latin propositus), an occupational name for the head of a religious chapter or educational establishment, or, since such officials were usually clergy and celibate, a nickname probably for a self-important person. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Probst ‘provost’; the reason for its adoption is unknown.

German: variant spelling of Ehrhardt.

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or beech wood, a variant of Buch + the suffix -(n)er denoting an inhabitant, or a habitational name from any of various places called Buchen, for example in Baden (east of Heidelberg). Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a scholar or scribe, from German Buch ‘book’, Yiddish bukh + the agent suffix -ner.

German and Dutch: habitational name from any of the various places called Zelle or Celle, in particular Celle near Hannover, named with German Zelle ‘cell’, Middle High German zelle (from Latin cella ‘small room’), or a topographic name from this word, denoting someone who lived near the site of a hermit’s cell. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): In other cases it was an occupational name for someone who owned or was employed at a Zelle in the sense of a small workshop.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German pfeffer, German Pfeffer ‘pepper’, a metonymic occupational name for a spicer; alternatively, it may be a nickname for a small man (as if the size of a peppercorn) or one with a fiery temper, or for a dark-haired person (from the color of a peppercorn) or anecdotal for someone who paid a peppercorn rent.

Scottish and English: from Middle English stark ‘firm’, ‘unyielding’, hence a nickname for a stern, determined, or physically strong person. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a strong, bold person, from Middle High German stark(e), German stark ‘strong’, ‘brave’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from any of the places called Steinberg.

German: distinguishing name, from Middle High German junc ‘young’ + wirt ‘husband’, ‘master of the house’, for a son or son-in-law. Wirt also came to mean ‘innkeeper’ and in some cases may have been applied in this sense.

Czech and Slovak (Pokorný), Polish, and Jewish (from Poland and Bohemia): from Czech pokorný, Polish pokorny ‘humble’, ‘meek’, a nickname for a humble or self-effacing person. This name is also found in eastern Germany.

German: nickname from eastern Middle High German kluc ‘wise’, ‘prudent’, or from the western form kluoc, which had the sense ‘noble’, ‘refined’; the word came into German from Middle Dutch cloec (see Klock) via Middle Low German klok (see Kloke). Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from German and Yiddish klug ‘clever’, ‘wise’.

South German: variant of Thaler.

South German: variant of Mosbrucker.

German: occupational name for a falconer, Middle High German vakenoere. In medieval times falconry was a sport practised only by the nobility; it was the task of the falconer to look after the birds and train young ones. English: variant spelling of Faulkner.

French, German, and Dutch: from a personal name formed with the Germanic elements ragin ‘counsel’ + hari, heri ‘army’. German: topographic name for someone living at the edge of a field or wood, from Middle High German rein ‘edge’, ‘embankment’.

German (Bavarian): from a pet form of Eberhardt.

German (Bavaria and Austria) from the personal name Giselher (see Gieseler). altered spelling of Swiss Geissler, an occupational name for a goatherd, from an agent derivative of from Middle High German geiz ‘goat’.

German and Swiss German (also Kügler): occupational name for a maker of hooded coats or cowls, Middle High German gugler. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Kugel with the addition of the agent suffix -er.

English, French, German, and Dutch: from the personal name Paul (Latin Paulus ‘small’), which has always been popular in Christendom. It was the name adopted by the Pharisee Saul of Tarsus after his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus in about ad 34. He was a most energetic missionary to the Gentiles in the Roman Empire, and played a very significant role in establishing Christianity as a major world religion. The name was borne also by numerous other early saints. The American surname has absorbed cognates from other European languages, for example Greek Pavlis and its many derivatives. It is also occasionally borne by Jews; the reasons for this are not clear. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phóil ‘son of Paul’. Compare McFall. Catalan (Paül): habitational name from any of several places named Paül. Spanish: topographic name from paúl ‘marsh’, ‘lagoon’. Spanish: Castilianized form of Basque Padul, a habitational name from a town of this name in Araba province.

German: from the Germanic personal name Willahalm, composed of the elements wil ‘will’, ‘desire’ + helm ‘helmet’, ‘protection’.

South German: variant of Heindel.

Hungarian (Kovács): occupational name for a blacksmith, Hungarian kovács, a loanword from Slavic.

German: from a short form of Rupprecht. EG

German: variant spelling of Weigel.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms. English: habitational name from any of several places so called, principally in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, and Worcestershire, named in Old English as ‘settlement by a lake’ (from mere or mær ‘pool’, ‘lake’ + tun ‘settlement’) or as ‘settlement by a boundary’ (from (ge)mære ‘boundary’ + tun ‘settlement’). The place name has been charged from Marton under the influence of the personal name Martin.

nickname for a cantankerous or quarrelsome person, from Middle High German griner ‘squabbler’, ‘quarreler’, an agent derivative of grin ‘loud cry’, ‘shout’. habitational name for someone from a place called Grein (see Grein 2).

German (also Jänisch): from a Slavic personal name (see Polish Janusz).

Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Polak.

German: variant of Walker or Walch.

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + man ‘man’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Bachman.

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a nut tree (see Nussbaum).

from Middle High German kummer, kumber ‘grief’, ‘distress’, ‘trouble’, hence a byname for someone who had suffered some loss or other misfortune; or alternatively a topographic name of the same origin for a person living near a rubble heap. Kummer is also a slang word for a penitentiary, and in some instances the surname may have arisen as nickname for a prisoner or a jailer. possibly a derivative of the medieval personal name Kunemar, of which the first element is from Old High German kuoni ‘bold’ or chunni ‘people’ (see Konrad); the second is from Old High German mari ‘fame’, ‘glory’.

German and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hlod ‘fame’ + wig ‘war’. This was the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty, recorded in Latin chronicles as Chlodovechus (see Louis), and Ludovicus, which became German Ludwig. This became a hereditary name in the Wittelsbach family, the royal family of Bavaria.

German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements wig ‘war’ + land ‘land’, ‘territory’. This name was borne by the supernaturally skilled smith of Germanic folk legend, and for this reason it may in part have been given as a nickname to blacksmiths. Jewish (Ashkenazic): presumably an adoption of the German surname.

German: distinguishing epithet, from Middle High German junc ‘young’, for the younger of two bearers of the same personal name, usually a son who bore the same name as his father. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German jung ‘young’, given to or assumed by people who were young at the time when surname became obligatory. Chinese , , : variant of Rong. Chinese , , : variant of Zhong. Korean: variant of Chong.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher, from German Fleisch ‘flesh’, ‘meat’ + an agent derivative of hacken ‘to chop or cut’.

Serbian (Djordjevic): patronymic from the personal name Djordje, vernacular form of the Greek personal name Georgios (see George).

Serbian and Croatian (Ilic): patronymic from the personal name Ilija (see Elias).

English: from Middle English wild ‘wild’, ‘uncontrolled’ (Old English wilde), hence a nickname for a man of violent and undisciplined character, or a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of overgrown uncultivated land. English: habitational name from a place named Wyld, as for example in Berkshire and Dorset, both named from Old English wil ‘trap’, ‘snare’. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): cognate of 1, from Middle High German wilde, wilt, German wild ‘wild’, also used in the sense ‘strange’, ‘foreign’, and therefore in some cases a nickname for an incomer.

South German: from Middle High German stein ‘stone’ + an agent derivative of bauen ‘to build’, ‘to farm’, hence an occupational name for a stonemason, or a farmer with stony land or whose farm was by a conspicuous rock formation.

Turkish: from the personal name Yilmaz ‘unyielding’.

nickname for a bearded man, from Middle High German bart ‘beard’. See also Beard 1. variant of Bart 2. habitational name from a place so named in Pomerania.

Eastern German: variant of Schultz 1.

German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a happy person or someone who liked to sing, or a metonymic occupational name for a bird catcher, from Middle High German, Middle Low German vogel ‘bird’. This name is found throughout central Europe, not only in German-speaking lands. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish female personal name Foygl, cognate with 1 above.

North German and Dutch: topographic name from Middle Low German hage(n), Middle Dutch haghe ‘enclosure’, ‘hedge’. German, Dutch, and Danish: from a Germanic personal name, a short form of the various compound names formed with hag ‘enclosure’, ‘protected place’ as the first element. German: nickname from Middle High German hagen ‘breeding bull’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): of uncertain origin; perhaps the same as 1. English: from an Old Scandinavian or continental Germanic personal name Hogni ‘protector’, ‘patron’ (Old Norse), Haghni (Old Danish), Hagano (Old Germanic). Norwegian: habitational name from any of numerous farmsteads so named, from the definite singular form of hage, from Old Norse hagi ‘enclosure’. Swedish: ornamental or topographic name from the definite singular form of hage ‘enclosed pasture’.

Hungarian and Jewish (from Hungary): nickname for a large or powerful person, from Hungarian nagy ‘big’. The family name is contrasted with Kiss and was sometimes used to describe the older of two bearers of the same personal name. Indian: variant of Nagi.

Hungarian (Tóth): ethnic name for a Slovak or a Slovenian, Hungarian tót. It is also found in Prekmurje, the easternmost part of Slovenia, where it is spelled both Toth and Tot. German: nickname from Middle High German tot ‘death’. German: nickname from Middle High German tote ‘godfather’.

German (also Köhl): from Middle High German kol, köl ‘cabbage’, ‘cabbage head’ (ultimately from Latin caulis ‘stalk’), hence a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of cabbages. from the Germanic personal name Kolo.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of the various places called Rosenberg.

German: variant of Bartel.

German (also Kräft), Danish, Swedish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a strong man, from Old High German kraft, German Kraft ‘strength’, ‘power’. The Swedish name probably originated as a soldier’s name. In part the German and Danish names possibly also derive from a late survival of the same word used as a byname, Old High German Chraft(o), Old Norse Kraptr.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for an innkeeper, Middle High German wirt, German Wirt. German: status name for a man who was head of a family and master of his own household, from the same word in the sense ‘provider’. German: from a short form of Werdo, from a Germanic personal name formed with werd ‘worth’ as the first element.

German: nickname for a greedy or rapacious person, from Middle High and Middle Low German gir(e) ‘large bird of prey’, ‘vulture’. Some early examples may be a habitational name from houses bearing the sign of a bird of prey or from a place named Geyer near Zwickau, in Saxony, which is probably ultimately from the same word.

Czech and Slovak: from fial(k)a ‘violet’ (the flower). This may have given rise to a surname in various possible ways: as a nickname for a shy, delicate person; as a topographic name for someone who lived where violets grew or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished with the sign of a bunch of violets.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a professional fiddle player, or a nickname for a skilled amateur, from Middle High German videlære, German Fiedler (Yiddish fidler). The instrument (Old High German fidula) is named from Late Latin vitula.

German: from a reduced form of Friedrich.

German (Middle Rhineland): occupational name for a butcher, Middle High German metzeler, from Latin macellarius ‘dealer in meat’, from macellum ‘stall (at a market)’, ‘meat market’.

German: from the personal name Ulrich, Old High German Odalric, composed of the elements odal ‘inherited property’, ‘fortune’ + ric ‘power’. The name was borne by a 10th-century saint, bishop of Augsburg, whose fame contributed greatly to the popularity of the personal name in German- and Slavic-speaking areas in the Middle Ages.

South German (Bavaria and Austria): variant of Dressler.

habitational name for someone from a place called Gratz or Grätz (see Gratz). German: (Grätzer): variant of Kretzer 2.

Eastern German (East Prussia): from a pet form of any of the various Germanic personal names with the first element ragin ‘counsel’, for example Reinhold or Reinhard (see Reinhardt).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German altman, German Altmann, literally ‘old man’, applied either as a personal name or as a nickname for an older man as distinguished from a younger one.

nickname for a noisy person, from a noun derivative of Middle High German ruschen ‘to make a noise’. topographic name for someone who lived by a swamp, from Middle High German rusch(e) ‘reed’.

Swiss German: literally ‘good man’, a term for the master of a household. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Gutman.

French: variant of Paillé (see Paille). German: variant of Bayer. Anglicized spelling of Slovenian Pajer, medieval Slovenian form of German Bayer, denoting a colonist from Bavaria brought to the Slovenian territory by feudal lords in the Middle Ages.

nickname from Middle High German stelzære ‘person with a wooden leg’. habitational name for someone from any of various places named Stelzen.

German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German aigen ‘own’, a status name originally denoting a smallholder who held his land outright, rather than by rent or feudal obligation. In the Middle Ages this was sufficiently rare to be worthy of remark and was normally a special privilege granted in recognition of some exceptional service. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Eigner ‘owner’, presumably adopted as an indication of property-owning status.

nickname for a bald man, from Middle High German gla(t)z ‘bald head’, ‘bald’ (a derivative of Middle High German, Old High German glat ‘smooth’, ‘shiny’, an equivalent of Glad), German Glatze ‘baldness’. In some cases the German surname may be topographic for someone living on a bare, treeless hill. habitational name from Glatz, the German name of Klodzko in Lower Silesia.

Czech: from a noun literally meaning ‘freedom’. This was a technical term in the feudal system for a freeman, i.e. a peasant farmer as opposed to a serf.

English: variant spelling of Butcher. German: topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or beech wood, from Middle High German buoche ‘beech tree’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. German: habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Buch. French (Bûcher): occupational name for a logger or woodsman, from a derivative of buche ‘log’.

Nepali: Hindu name, from Sanskrit prema ‘love’. In India, it is quite common as a personal name. Slovenian: probably from a medieval short form of the personal name Primož, Latin Primus ‘first’.

Hungarian: occupational name from Hungarian varga ‘cobbler’, ‘shoemaker’. It is also found as a Slovenian surname in easternmost Slovenia. Czech and Slovak: nickname for a miserable or complaining person, from vargat ‘lament’, ‘moan’, ‘complain’. Slovak and Ukrainian: descriptive nickname from varga ‘lip’. Compare Polish Warga.

German: from a pet form of a Slavic form of the personal name Peter, or from the personal names Bernhard or Berthold (in the southwest).

English and German: from a very widely used personal name of Germanic origin, composed of the elements arn ‘eagle’ + wald ‘rule’. In addition, it has probably absorbed various European cognates and their derivatives (for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988). English: habitational name from either of the two places called Arnold (see Arnall). Jewish (Ashkenazic): adoption of the German personal name, at least in part on account of its resemblance to the Jewish name Aaron.

Czech (Novotný) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname denoting a newcomer to a place. This is the third most common Czech surname.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from any of the various places named Kronberg.

Dutch, German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker of bread, or brick and tiles, from backen ‘to bake’. English: occupational name for a maker or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from an agent derivative of Old English becca ‘mattock’.

South German and Bavarian: from a pet form of the personal name Hugo (see Hugh).

South German and Swiss German: occupational name for a baker, from Middle High German pfister ‘baker’ (from Latin pistor).

From the Biblical personal name Adam, which was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man. It is the generic Hebrew term for ‘man’, probably from Hebrew adama ‘earth’. Compare the classical Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth. It was very popular as a personal name among non-Jews throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, and the surname is found in one form or another in most of the countries of Europe. Jews, however, have never used this personal name, except in recent times under Polish and English influence. Among Scottish and Irish bearers it is sometimes a reduced form of McAdam.

German (Bavaria): topographic name from Middle High German muor ‘marsh’, ‘bog’, or ‘moor’. North German and Swiss: variant of Mauer 2.

German, Danish, Czech, and Polish; Slovenian (also Kašper): see Kaspar.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a wealthy or powerful man, from Middle High German rich ‘of noble descent’, ‘powerful’, ‘rich’, German reich ‘rich’. German: from a short form of a personal name containing the Old High German element rihhi ‘power’, ‘might’.

German: status name for a legal guardian of a minor, from an agent derivative of Middle High German pflegen ‘to supervise or administrate’.

German: topographic name for someone living in or near a gorge or ravine (see Klamm).

German: nickname for an awkward or belligerent person, from Middle High German struz ‘quarrel’, ‘complaint’. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German struze, German Strauss ‘ostrich’, hence a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of an ostrich, or (among the German nobility) a nickname for someone whose coat-of-arms featured an ostrich, or a nickname for someone thought to resemble the bird. In some cases the Jewish surname was ornamental. Dutch: from a Germanic personal name, Strusso.

German and Dutch: nickname for someone who was wise and knowledgeable, from Middle High German list, Dutch list ‘wisdom’, ‘ingenuity’. Dutch: habitational name from Ter List, the name being derived from the plant lis ‘iris’, ‘flag’. Americanized spelling of Hungarian Liszt, a metonymic occupational name for a miller, from liszt ‘flour’.

German, Dutch, Lithuanian, Czech and Slovak (Lukáš), etc.: from the personal name Lukas (see Lucas).

South German: variant spelling of Neumeyer.

German and Dutch: from a short form of various Germanic personal names (see, for example, Engelbert and Engelhard). A number of different elements have fallen together in Engel-, mainly Ingal, extended form of Ing, the name of a Germanic god or folk hero, and Angel ‘Angle’. The Angles were a Germanic tribe living on the Jutland peninsula; in the 5th–6th centuries they invaded eastern and northern Britain and gave their name to England (Old English Englaland ‘land of the Angles’). German and Dutch: in some cases a habitational name for someone living at a house bearing the sign of an angel, Middle High German engel. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Engel ‘angel’ (see 2).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a joiner, from an agent derivative of Middle High German tisch, German Tisch ‘table’. This became the normal term for the craftsman in northern and eastern Germany and in Austria and Switzerland during the 15th century; before that it had been Tischer.

German: status name for a free man, as opposed to a bondsman or serf, in the feudal system, from Middle High German vri ‘free’, ‘independent’.

French and German: from the personal name Augustin, from Latin Augustinus (see Austin).

South German: topographic name from Middle High German (southern dialect) tobel ‘gorge’ + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant. North German (also Döbler): nickname for a dice player, from an agent derivative of Middle Low German dob(e)len ‘to throw dice’, ‘to play (cards or board games)’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German stern, German Stern ‘star’, a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a star, or a Jewish ornamental name. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe. In Slovenia it is commonly spelled Štern. English: nickname for a severe person, from Middle English stern(e) ‘strict’, ‘austere’.

North German, Dutch, and Belgian: topographic name from Middle Low German par ‘house of a priest’, or a habitational name from any of various minor places named Parre or Perre, for example in Ruiselede or Hillegem in East Flanders or Noordewijk in Antwerp province.

Czech and Slovak (Kolár; Czech also Kolár); Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian: occupational name from Czech kolár and South Slavic kolar ‘wheelwright’, ‘cartwright’, agent noun from kola ‘cart’.

German: nickname for a man with some fancied resemblance to a he-goat, Middle High German boc, or a habitational name from a house distinguished by the sign of a goat. Altered spelling of German Böck (see Boeck) or Bach. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Bock ‘he-goat’. English: variant of Buck.

Czech (Jelínek) and Jewish (from Bohemia and Moravia): from a diminutive of Jelen. As a Jewish name it is mainly a translation of the Yiddish personal name Hirsh (see Hirsch).

Dutch and French: from a variant of the personal name Mathias (see Matthew). English: patronymic from a pet form of Matthew.

German: habitational name for someone from any of the numerous places called Buchberg.

South German (Bächler): variant spelling of Bechler.

South German: topographic name for someone who lived on or owned a piece of high-lying cleared land, from Middle High German hohe ‘high’ + riute ‘cleared land’ + the agent suffix -er

German: from Middle High German kirchenaere ‘sexton’, hence an occupational name for a priest, an assistant at a church, or the administrator of church property and possessions. German and Czech: habitational name for someone from a place called Kirchen.

German: occupational name for a charcoal burner, from Middle High German kol ‘(char)coal’ + the agent suffix -er. The form Kohler is South German; elsewhere it is usually written Köhler.

German: variant of Zentz.

variant spelling of Rother. occupational name for the foreman or leader of a group or association of men, or a work gang, from an agent derivative of Middle High German rotte ‘team’, ‘gang’. occupational name for a harp player, Middle High German rottære. habitational name from any of the various places called Rott.

South German: habitational name for someone from Wald, Walda, Walden, or any other place named from Old High German wald ‘forest’. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name from German Waldner ‘forest dweller’, ‘forester’, Middle High German waldenære. Compare Waldman.

German (Frisian): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hugi ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’ + mari ‘famous’.

South German and Austrian: from a diminutive of Middle High German risch, rusch ‘reed’ or ‘rush’ (see Reisch).

German: occupational name for an extractor or seller of salt, from Middle High German salz ‘salt’ + man ‘man’.

German (also Häcker), Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher, possibly also for a woodcutter, from an agent derivative of Middle High German hacken, Dutch hakken ‘to hack’, ‘to chop’. The Jewish surname may be from Yiddish heker ‘butcher’, holtsheker ‘woodcutter’ (German Holzhacker), or valdheker ‘lumberjack’, or from German Hacker ‘woodchopper’. English (chiefly Somerset): from an agent derivative of Middle English hacken ‘to hack’, hence an occupational name for a woodcutter or, perhaps, a maker of hacks (hakkes), a word used in Middle English to denote a variety of agricultural tools such as mattocks and hoes.

Hungarian: from kis ‘small’, applied as a nickname for a person of small stature or the younger of two bearers of the same personal name. English: from Anglo-Norman French cuisse ‘thigh’ (from Latin coxa), applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of leg armor, which was normally of leather. German: variant of Kisch (of Czech origin).

South German (Austrian): from a pet form of the Slavic personal name Janda, or from a Germanic personal name, probably Gando, a short form of a word possibly meaning ‘magic’, or, according to Finsterwalder, from Jan, a Tyrolean family name, a short form of Johann.

South German and Swiss German: topographic name for someone living by a Fanghaus, literally ‘capture house’, a building or enclosure in which live animals captured by hunting were kept.

Czech (Král), Slovak (Král), and eastern German (of Slavic origin): from the western Slavic word kral ‘king’, a derivative of the personal name Karl ‘Charles’, the name of the Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (?742–814; Latin name Carolus Magnus). The word kral as a generic term meaning ‘king’ became widespread throughout eastern Europe in the Middle Ages; in Byzantium it generally denoted the kings of Serbia. As a surname, it generally arose either as an occupational name for a servant of the king or as an ironic nickname for one who gave himself regal airs. The surname is also found in German, often in the spelling Krahl. Americanized form of Slovenian, Croatian, or Serbian Kralj ‘king’, of the same origin as 1. Compare Kraly.

German and Dutch: from a reduced form of the personal name Johann(es) (see John). Eastern German: from the Czech personal name Jan, also a form of John.

South German: habitational name for someone from Wals near Salzburg. German: variant of Walliser.

Czech and Slovak (Horák): topographic name for someone who lived in the mountains, from a noun derivative of hora ‘mountain’.

German: from a Germanic personal name Poppo, Boppo, of uncertain origin and meaning, perhaps originally a nursery word or a short form of for example Bodobert, a Germanic personal name meaning ‘famous leader’. It was a hereditary personal name among the counts of Henneberg and Babenberg in East Franconia between the 9th and 14th centuries. English: from a Middle English continuation of an Old English personal name, Poppa, known only from occurrences in place names.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German vlec(ke), German Fleck ‘patch’, ‘spot’ or Yiddish flek, of varied application. Bahlow suggests that this may be a metonymic occupational name for a user of patches in repairing shoes, clothes, or utensils, or a habitational name from a place named with this word. In some parts of Germany this was the term for a type of round, flat loaf; the surname could therefore have arisen as a metonymic occupational name for a baker. In some cases the Jewish name was probably ornamental.

Dutch, German, Czech, and Jewish (western Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Marks 3.

German: topographic name for someone who lived in or by a forest, from Middle Low German dan, Middle High German tan ‘pine’, ‘forest’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant, or a habitational name from any of various places called Thann, named with this word, notably in Bavaria, and also in Mecklenburg and Switzerland.

German: from Middle High German kolbe in various meanings. The main sense is ‘mace’ or ‘cudgel’, which was both a weapon and part of an official’s insignia, in some cases the insignia of a jester. It may also be a house name: there is also record of a house named ‘zum Kolben’ in Strasbourg. In Silesia the term denoted a shock of hair or a shorn head. Any of these senses could have given rise to the surname.

English: metonymic nickname for someone with large lips or with some deformity of the lips, from Middle English lippe (Old English lippa). English: perhaps from a Middle English personal name, Leppe or Lippe, apparently a short form of an Old English personal name formed with Leof- ‘dear’, such as Leofsige, Leofstan. German: from a pet form of the personal name Philipp (see Philip).

topographic name from Middle Low German pol ‘(muddy) pool’ (Low German Pohl). (Pöhl): habitational name for someone from the island of Poel, near Wismar. Variant of Paul. Eastern German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ethnic name for a Polish speaker or someone with some other connection with Poland, from German Pole, Dutch Pool ‘Pole’.

Croatian and Serbian (Pavlovic); Slovenian (Pavlovic): patronymic from the personal names Pavle (Serbian and Croatian), Pavao (Croatian) and Pavel (Slovenian) (see Paul).

German: metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of cups or flasks, from Middle High German kopf ‘flask’ (from Late Latin cuppa ‘cask’). German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with some noticeable peculiarity or deformity of the head, from Middle High German kopf (the same word as in 1, used in a transferred sense which during the Middle Ages gradually ousted the earlier word houbet ‘head’), German Kopf.

English, French, German, Polish, and Slovenian; Spanish and Hungarian (Jordán): from the Christian baptismal name Jordan. This is taken from the name of the river Jordan (Hebrew Yarden, a derivative of yarad ‘to go down’, i.e. to the Dead Sea). At the time of the Crusades it was common practice for crusaders and pilgrims to bring back flasks of water from the river in which John the Baptist had baptized people, including Christ himself, and to use it in the christening of their own children. As a result Jordan became quite a common personal name.

Czech (Cerný): from cerný ‘black’, hence a nickname for a black-haired person, or someone with a dark complexion, sometimes used as a nickname for the devil. French: habitational name from either of two places, in Aisne and Essonne, named Cerny, from the Roman personal name Serenus + the suffix -iacus, denoting an estate.

Dutch and German: from a personal name, a derivative of the Breton personal name Iodoc (see Joyce), or from the personal name Just (see Just).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a pet form of the personal name Heinrich.

Dutch, North German (Häring), and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle Low German harinc ‘herring’, German Hering, a metonymic occupational name for a seller of herrings. Dutch: also from a personal name, a variant of Herring 3.

North German: variant of Klemens.

German: habitational name for someone from a place called Oberhaus or Oberhausen.

English: from a short form of the personal name Matthew. German: from a short form of the personal name Matthias or Matthäus (see Matthew). German and Dutch: variant of Matte ‘meadow’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): Saxon or Silesian form of Kürschner (see Kurschner).

German (Bavarian): from a pet form of the personal name Leupold (see Leopold).

Hispanic (Mexico): unexplained. South German: habitational name for someone from a place called Sill, in particular one on the Salzach river, or from a farm so named in the Tyrol, the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.

(Swiss): Alemannic form of Reiser. habitational name for someone from Ries near Passau. Alemannic variant of Rüs(s)er, a variant of Reusser 1. altered spelling of Riesser, a habitational name for someone from Ries(s), a region of Bavaria.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for an ironworker, smith, or ironmonger, from an agent derivative of Middle High German isen and German Eisen ‘iron’ (see Eisen).

German: nickname for a clumsy, awkward man, from Middle High German klotz ‘lump’, ‘block’, cognate with modern English clot, which is similarly used in a transferred sense to denote a stupid person. Jewish (Ashkenazic): cognate of 1, from modern German Klotz ‘lump’, ‘block’, or Yiddish klots.

German: probably a habitational name for someone from a place called Reisen (for example in Bavaria), Reissen in Thuringia, or Reussen on the Saale river. German: variant of Reiser 2. German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German, Middle Low German rise ‘veil’; perhaps an occupational name for someone who made veils. Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a traveler, from an agent derivative of German reisen ‘to travel’ (see Reise 2). Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Reis 4 + the agent suffix -ner.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a sheep-shearer or someone who used scissors to trim the surface of finished cloth and remove excessive nap, from German Scherer, Yiddish sherer, agent derivatives of Middle High German scheren ‘to shear’.

occupational name for a woodman or topographic name for someone who lived by a thicket or grove, from Czech hájek ‘thicket’, from háj ‘grove’, or directly from háj ‘grove’, the diminutive suffix -ek being added in forming the surname. occupational name for a keeper of animals (a herd), especially one who looked after horses (an ostler), from hájit ‘to protect’, ‘to defend’.

German: from Middle High German kellaere ‘cellarman’, ‘cellar master’ (Latin cellarius, denoting the keeper of the cella ‘store chamber’, ‘pantry’). Hence an occupational name for the overseer of the stores, accounts, or household in general in, for example, a monastery or castle. Kellers were important as trusted stewards in a great household, and in some cases were promoted to ministerial rank. The surname is widespread throughout central Europe. English: either an occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kellere, or an occupational name for an executioner, from Old English cwellere. Irish: reduced form of Kelleher. Scottish: variant of Keillor.

South German: from the Germanic personal name Haimo. Compare English Hammond Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Khayim, from Hebrew chayim ‘life’. Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead named Heim, from Old Norse heimr ‘home’, ‘farmstead’, ‘settlement’, or in some cases a more recent ornamental formation from heim ‘home’.

South German and Austrian: variant of Hiess, which is from an aphetic short form of the personal name Mathies (see Matthew). South German and Austrian: variant of Heuss. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental from German heiss ‘hot’.

German: variant of Wenzel.

German: probably a short form of the medieval personal name Makarius, from Greek makarios ‘blessed’. German: variant of Kahre. Swedish: unexplained. Danish: habitational name from a place called Kahr.

German, Czech (Kašpar), Slovak (Gašpar), and Slovenian (Kaspar and Kašpar): from the personal name Kaspar, Kašpar, which was especially popular in central Europe up to the 18th century. From Persian kaehbaed, khazana-dar, or ganjvaer, all meaning ‘treasure bearer’, it was ascribed by popular tradition in Europe to one of the three Magi. The supposed remains of the Magi were taken in the 12th century from Constantinople to Cologne, where they became objects of veneration. See also Baltazar and Melchior.

Slovenian and Slovak (Štefan), Polish, and Romanian: from the personal names Štefan (Slovenian and Slovak) or Stefan, Latin Stephanus (see Steven).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from German Schlosser ‘locksmith’. German (also Schlösser): topographic or occupational name for someone who worked at a castle, from Schloss with the addition of the agent or habitational suffix -er.

German: habitational name for someone from Felling in Bavaria.

English: variant of Wald, with the addition of the habitational suffix -er. German: habitational name from any of several places called Wald, or a topographic name for someone who lived in a forest or wood, Middle High German walt.

Serbian and Croatian (Stankovic): patronymic from the personal name Stanko, pet form of Stanislav (see Stanislaw) or any other personal name beginning with Stani-.

Serbian (Kostic): patronymic from Kosta, a pet form of the personal name Konstantin (see Constantine).

Croatian and Serbian (Jankovic); Slovenian, Czech, and Slovak (Jankovic): patronymic from the personal name Janko, a pet form of Jan (Slovenian Janez), from Latin Johannes (see John).

German (Bavaria): variant of Siegel 2.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher, literally ‘meatman’, from Middle High German fleisch ‘flesh’, ‘meat’ + man ‘man’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a derivative of the personal name Jakob or Yakov (see Jacob). German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Kober ‘basket’, Middle High German kober, hence a metonymic occupational name for a basket maker or perhaps a nickname for someone who carried a basket on his back. German (Köber): habitational name for someone from a place called Köben. Germanized form of Czech Kovár (see Kovar) ‘blacksmith’ or a cognate in another western Slavic language. Czech: nickname for a fat man, from kobero ‘pot belly’.

German and Swiss German: habitational name for someone from any of the many places named with Middle High German ror ‘reed bed’ or ror ‘well’, ‘channel’ (see Rohr).

German: ethnic name for a German-speaker, from a noun derivative of Deutsch.

French (Léopold), German, and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name, Luitpold, composed of the elements liut ‘people’ + bald ‘bold’, ‘brave’. The form of the first element has been influenced by Leonard. The surname is also borne by Ashkenazic Jews, in which case it is an adoption of the German forename as a surname.

English (chiefly Lancashire): topographic name for someone who lived by or worked at a rough temporary shelter for animals, Middle English helm (Old Norse hjalmr, related to the Old English and Old High German words in 2 below), or a habitational name from a minor place named Helm or Helme from this word, as for example in County Durham, Northumberland, and West Yorkshire. English, German, and Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a maker of helmets, from Middle English, Middle High German, Middle Dutch helm. German and Dutch: from a medieval personal name, a short form of any of the various compound names formed with helm ‘helmet’. Compare, e.g., Helmbrecht. Scottish: habitational name from Helme in Roxburghshire (Borders). Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Helm ‘helmet’.

German (Kämmerer; South German Kammerer): from Middle High German kamerære ‘chamberlain’ (from kamer(e) ‘chamber’), a status name for the treasurer of a court, a great household, or a city.

German, Dutch, Danish and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name Moritz, a variant of Mauritz (see Morris). Among Jews it was sometimes assumed as a surname by bearers of the personal name Moses, as the two names have some phonetic similarity.

English, German, Dutch (De Mann), and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a fierce or strong man, or for a man contrasted with a boy, from Middle English, Middle High German, Middle Dutch man. In some cases it may have arisen as an occupational name for a servant, from the medieval use of the term to describe a person of inferior social status. The Jewish surname can be ornamental. English and German: from a Germanic personal name, found in Old English as Manna. This originated either as a byname or else as a short form of a compound name containing this element, such as Hermann. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Man (cognate with 1). Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Jat) and Sikh name of unknown meaning.

North German: topographic name for someone who lived by an alder tree, from Middle Low German elre, alre ‘alder’. German: habitational name from places in the North Rhine and Mosel areas, so called from an old stream name Elera, Alira, of Celtic origin. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Heller, reflecting varieties of Yiddish in which there is no h.

German: from Middle High German schrenk ‘slanting’, ‘crossed’ (from schrenken ‘to put across’, ‘to lay diagonally’), possibly a metonymic occupational name for someone who did wickerwork or made fences.

Czech (Bláha) and Slovak: from a short form of the personal names Blahoslav, Blahomil, or Blažej, all formed with blaho ‘good’.

German: from Adler ‘eagle’, denoting someone living in a house identified by the sign of an eagle. The German noun is from Middle High German adelar, itself a compound of adel ‘noble’ + ar ‘eagle’. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, being found for example in Czech, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian (Ádler). Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name meaning ‘eagle’.

German: Austrian variant of Lindner.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): status name for someone who was master of his craft, from Middle High German meister ‘master’ (from Latin magister). The surname Meister is established throughout central Europe; in Poland it is also spelled Majster. As an Ashkenazic Jewish surname it denoted a rabbi as a leading figure in a Jewish community.

English: generally said to be from Anglo-Norman French fi(t)z ‘son’, used originally to distinguish a son from a father bearing the same personal name. It could also be a habitational name from a place in Shropshire called Fitz, recorded in 1194 as Fittesho, from an Old English personal name, Fitt, + hoh ‘hill spur’. In one family at least, it is an altered form of English Fitch. German: unexplained. Possibly from a vernacular pet form of the personal name Vincent.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from Vienna, Austria (see Wien).

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a thorn bush or thorn hedge, from Middle High German dorn ‘thorn’, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Dorn ‘thorn’. Czech: see Dornak.

German (Bavaria): topographic name for someone who lived on or owned a property that was in the middle between two or more others, especially if the others were both held by men with the same personal name (for example, Mitter Hans), from the strong form of Middle High German mitte ‘mid’, ‘middle’. Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Arora) and Sikh name from Sanskrit mitra ‘friend’.

Germanized variant of Czech Prochazka.

South German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German zotte, zote ‘shaggy wool’, hence perhaps an occupational name for someone who kept sheep or was employed in the wool trade, or alternatively a nickname for someone who habitually wore a sheepskin or who had unkempt hair. German: nickname for a clumsy or distracted person, from a derivative of Middle High German zotten ‘to stroll or amble’.

German (Austria): habitational name for someone from Dirnberg in Upper Austria.

German: occupational name for a forest warden, from an agent derivative of Middle High German hegen ‘to mind, take care (of)’. North German: status name denoting a minor tenant, Middle Low German heger.

variant of Radel 1. variant of Radle 3.

German: Bavarian variant of Steidle.

German: from a local variant of the personal name Siegfried.

Polish: nickname from nowotny ‘newcomer’.

German: habitational name for someone from a place called Wiesen, or topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow, a derivative of Middle High German wise ‘meadow’.

German and Swiss German: topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous willow tree or a group of such trees, from Middle High German velwe ‘willow’ (presumably from an unrecorded Old High German cognate of Old English welig). As a vocabulary word this has now been entirely supplanted by Weide. Both words ultimately derive from a root meaning ‘bent’, ‘twisted’, and refer to the useful suppleness of willow twigs. Some examples of the surname may derive from places called Felben, from the dative plural of the word (originally used after a preposition). Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, from the tree (see 1).

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from (respectively) Middle High German vritac and German Freitag ‘Friday’ (Old High German friatag, frijetag, a translation of Late Latin Veneris dies: Freya was the Germanic goddess of love, sometimes considered as equivalent to the Roman Venus). The German name may have denoted someone born on a Friday or who performed some feudal service then. However, Friday was considered unlucky throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages (because it was the day on which Christ was crucified), and it seems more likely that the name was given to a person considered ill-omened. It is found as a byname in this sense in Old High German. This is by far the commonest of the surnames drawn from the days of the week, followed by Sonntag ‘Sunday’, traditionally a day of good omen. Among Jews, it seems to have been one of the names that were distributed at random by government officials.

habitational name for someone from any of several places called Machern, for example near Leipzig. from a Germanic personal name formed with mag ‘kinsman’ or magan ‘might’ + hari ‘army’.

Czech and Slovak (Nemec): ethnic name for a German or German-speaker, from nemec ‘German’. In Old Czech this word was used to denote any foreigner, being derived from nemý ‘mute’, referring to an inability to speak Czech. This name is also found in Germany. Slovenian: ethnic name from Nemec ‘German’, a derivative of the adjective nem ‘mute’ (see 1). Germans (mainly Bavarians) were brought in large numbers by feudal overlords to the territory of present-day Slovenia and of the early medieval Slovenian state Carantania (present-day Carinthia and Styria, now divided between Austria and Slovenia).

Hungarian (Molnár) and Jewish (from Hungary): occupational name from molnár ‘miller’, probably a Magyarized form of the Slavic word for a miller, mlinar. Molnar is also found as a Slovenian surname. Dutch: variant of Molenaar ‘miller’.

English: probably for the most part a topographic name for someone who lived near the trunk or stump of a large tree, Middle English stocke (Old English stocc). In some cases the reference may be to a primitive foot-bridge over a stream consisting of a felled tree trunk. Some early examples without prepositions may point to a nickname for a stout, stocky man or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of punishment stocks. German: from Middle German stoc ‘tree’, ‘tree stump’, hence a topographic name equivalent to 1, but sometimes also a nickname for an impolite or obstinate person. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Stock ‘stick’, ‘pole’.

Czech (Dvorák): status name for a rich farmer, one who owned a manor house, from Czech dvur ‘manor’, ‘estate’, or in some cases an occupational name for someone who worked at a manor house rather than on the land. Compare Sedlak. In Moravia the term denoted a freeholder subject only to the king. This is the fourth most common surname in the Czech lands.

German: variant of Kleiber.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of mugs and jugs, from Middle High German kruoc ‘jug’, ‘drinking vessel’; alternatively, mostly in southern and eastern Germany, a nickname for a heavy drinker. occupational nickname for a tavern keeper, from Krug ‘inn’, ‘tavern’, especially in northern Germany.

Polish, Czech, and Slovak: from the West Slavic personal name Marek, a vernacular form of Latin Marcus (see Mark). Czech: from a pet form of the personal name Martin.

South German: from a pet form of Mein.

English, German, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a spindle maker, from an agent derivative of Middle English spindle, Middle High German spindel, German Spindel, Yiddish shpindl ‘spindle’, ‘distaff’.

German: from the personal name Klaus, a reduced form of Nikolaus (see Nicholas).

in southern Germany and Austria, a topographic name from the field name Klingle, a diminutive of Klinge. nickname for a gossip, from Middle High German klingelen ‘to chat’. in southwestern Germany, an occupational name for town crier or a nickname for a beggar, from an agent derivative of klingeln ‘to ring a bell’.

“Lion” in Sanskrit (Sinha). Hence Singapore - “City of the Lion”.

Portuguese and Galician: variant of Marta. Italian: probably from medieval Greek Martios ‘March’ or the Calabrian dialect word marti ‘Tuesday’, in either case probably denoting someone with some particular association with the month or the day. English: variant spelling of Mart 1. German: from a short form of Martin.

German: distinguishing name for a master craftsman who had newly settled in a particular community, from Middle High German niuwe ‘new’ + meister ‘master’.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale, from Middle High German briuwer ‘brewer’.