| Surname
| taken from the German word
| meaning and background description
|
Ahrens/Ahrend
Arndt | arn
| eagle---- son of the eagle |
| Bald | --- | bald or bold
|
| Barten | --- | one with a big beard
|
| Bierl | --- | Southern German
|
| Blum | --- | flower
|
| Blohm | Plattdeutsche
| flower |
| Brandt | Brand | shortform of Hildebrandt, Sibrand, Gerbrand
|
| Bruch | --- | swampy wood
|
| Brus | Brausekopf
| one with a hot (ill) temper
|
| Bunz | ---
| barrel, barrelshaped guy
|
| Dentlinger | --- |
southern German name
|
Detlefsen
Dethlefs |
--- | son of Detlef (Dietleib=son of the people)
|
| Eischeid | --- | Ei=egg
Scheid(en)= separate
|
| Ewoldt | Ewaldt |
one who fights for the law
|
| Ewoldt | ewa=old right
wold(t)=walten=
govern |
someone who governs or reigns by right
very old German name (700 AD)
Wold also is Platt for wood
|
| Fischer | --- | fisher
|
| Forman | Vormann, Vorman
| carter |
| Frahm | ---
| one who is able and bold
|
| Frank | ---
| one of the tribe of Franks (Franken)
|
| Ferneding | fern = virn
ding = (Ding)
| last year's
thing
|
| Genzen | Jentz/Jensen
| son of John |
| Gross | ---
| big |
| Guth | ---
| good |
| Hagedorn | ---
| hedgethorn, woodthorn
|
| Hargens | Hergens
| Friesian name |
| Haubrich | Hubertus
| patron of the hunters
|
| Heithoff | ---
| farm on the heath
|
| Heller | a coin
| origin--- 1208, first pressed at Schwäbisch-Hall
|
| Henkelman | Heinckel/Henke
| Henry's man |
| Herbers | Herbert's
| from heri-berth = radiant in the army (Germanic)
|
| Hill | Hell
| wild area with crevices |
| Huffman | ---
| one who owns a Hufe
|
| Irlbeck | Erle
Irle
beck
| Alder
swamp
creek
|
| Irlmeier | Erle
Irle
Maier/Meier
| Alder
swamp
steward
|
| Jahn | ---
| John |
| Karsten | ---
| Christian |
| Kelderman | Kellermann
| one who works in the cellar, keeper of the wine
|
| Kienappel | Kienapfel
| Pine Cone |
| Kienast | Kiefernast
| pinebranch |
| Klocke | Glocke
| bell |
| Kuhn |
Kühn /Kunrad, Konrad
| bold adviser |
| Kruse | Krause
| curly haired person
|
| Kroeger | Krüger
Krug
| landlord of a country inn
pitcher, jug
|
| Lampman | ---
| man with a lamp
|
| Langel | Lange, Langer
| a long person |
| Lohrmann | ---
| one coming from the river Lohr (near river Main)
|
| Martens | ---
| short for Martin's son
|
| Morlok | ---
| one with curls as black as a moor
|
| Meggers | Maiers, Meier
| major domus = steward
|
| Misselhorn | ---
horn
| one who lives in a boggy corner
bend
|
| Popp | Friesian name
| no real meaning, so called babbled name
|
| Potthoff | pott
| kind of stew (carrots, potatoes or cereals, beef)
|
| Puck | German & English
| goblin
|
| Reimers | ---
Reinmar, reginmar
| son of Reimer
famous in the counsel
|
| Reischl | ---
| one who lives near the rushes
|
| Ress | ---
| one who lives at the bog
|
| Riesselman | ---
| one who lives in the Riess
|
| Ringgenberg
---
---
| ---
ring = gering
berg =
| smallhill
minor or small
mountain
|
| Rix | Rickert, Richard
| --- |
| Schultz | Schultz, Schulz, Schultze, Schultheiss,, Scholz
| village mayor |
| Schwiesow | ---
| comes from German county of Mecklenburg
|
| Singsank | ---
| singsong |
| Soll | Solle, Soller
| balcony |
| Spies/Spiese | ---
Spiess
| pikemaker
pike
|
| Sporrer | ---
| sparrow |
| Stangl | ---
| long, stiff person
|
| Venner | ---
| one who lives on marshy grounds- also Fennemann
|
| Vetter | ---
| cousin |
| Voge | ---
| small, skillful person
|
| Vinke | Finke
| finch |
| Warner/Warnke | Werner
warin-hari
| ---
(Germanic) fight in the army
|
| Weller | ---
| one who lives at a well |
| Wittrock | ---
| white coat |
| Zubrod | ---
| extra bread (extra money) |