Gura Humora &
South Bukovina, Surnames History and Origin
ABRAHAM
From the Hebrew personal name Avraham, borne by a
Biblical patriarch revered by Jews as the founding father of the
Jewish people (Genesis 11–25), and by Muslims as founder of all the
Semitic peoples, both Hebrew and Arab (compare Ibrahim). The name is
explained in Genesis 17:5 as being derived from Hebrew av hamon
goyim ‘father of a multitude of nations’. It was widely used as
a personal name among Christians as well as Jews in the Middle Ages
in diverse cultures from northern Europe to southern India. It is
also found as a given name among Christians in India, and in the
U.S. has come to be used as a family name among families from
Kerala.
ABRAMOWITZ
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): patronymic from Abram, a reduced
form of the personal name Abraham.
ADELSBERG
First found in Austria where this family name becomes a
prominent contributor to the development of the district of ancient
times.
ADELSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, or ornamental-occupational
name for a jeweler, from German Edelstein in the sense
‘precious stone’.
ADLER
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’.
AHARON
Jewish: variant of Aaron.Mainly Jewish: from the
Biblical Hebrew personal name Aharon, which was borne by the
first high priest of the Israelites, the brother of Moses (Exodus
4:14). Like Moses, it is probably of Egyptian origin, with a
meaning no longer recoverable. In some countries Aaron was also a
gentile personal name; not all occurrences of the surname are
Jewish.
AIZIC
ALTKOPF
ALTMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Altmann.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.
ALTSCHUELLER
APTER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from Apt, the
Yiddish name of Opatów in Kielce voivodeship, Poland. The place name
(in German, Yiddish, and Polish) is from a root meaning ‘abbot’, the
place having been named for the local abbey.
ASCHKENASI
Jewish: nickname applied by Jews in Slavic countries for a Jew
from Germany; it was also used to denote a Yiddish-speaking Jew who
had settled in an area where non-Ashkenazic Jews were in the
majority. Ashkenaz is a Biblical place name (Genesis 10:3,
Jeremiah 51: 27), etymologically related to Greek Skythia
‘Scythia’. However, since the 9th century
ad, if not earlier, it
has been applied to Germany.
AXELRAD
Jewish: variant of Axelrod,Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the
Yiddish personal name Akslrod, which is of uncertain
derivation, perhaps from Alexander
BABAD
BAER
German (Bär): from Middle High German ber ‘bear’, a
nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way, a
metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear,
or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house
distinguished by the sign of a bear. In some cases, it may derive
from a personal name containing this element.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Ber,
from Yiddish ber ‘bear’.
BALABUST
BART
German: variant of Barth, or from a Germanic personal name,
cognate of Old High German beraht ‘bright’, ‘shining’, as in
Berthold.
BARTFELD
BAUMGARTEN
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic or metonymic
occupational name for someone who owned or lived by an orchard or
was employed in one, from Middle High German boumgarte
‘orchard’ (a compound of boum ‘tree’ + garte
‘enclosure’), German Baumgarten. There are also several
villages named with this word, and so in some cases the surname may
have originated as a habitational name from one of these. As a
Jewish name, it is mainly ornamental.
BEER
North German and Dutch: from Middle Low German bare,
Middle Dutch bere ‘bear’, applied as a nickname for someone
thought to resemble the animal in some way, or as a metonymic
occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear.
Alternatively, it could have been a habitational name for someone
who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a bear, or from a
Germanic personal name with this as the first element.
BENDIT
BERGER
German 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.
BERGMAN
German 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.
BERKOWICZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from the Yiddish male personal
name Berke, Germanized form of either the Polish spelling
Berkowicz or eastern Slavic Berkovich.
BERL
Jewish (Ashkenazic): pet form of the Yiddish male name Ber.
BERNFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from the Yiddish personal
name Ber (‘bear’) + German Feld ‘open country’.
BERNSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Bernstein
‘amber’ (from Middle Low German bernen ‘to burn’ + sten
‘stone’; it was thought to be created by burning, although it is in
fact fossilized pine resin).
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): in some cases perhaps a
metonymic occupational name for a craftsman or dealer in amber.
BESNER
BIEDERMANN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): surname adopted because of its honorific
meaning, from modern German bieder ‘honest’, ‘upright’ +
-mann ‘man’.
BIENER
Jewish (Ashkenazic) and German: occupational name for a
beekeeper, a variant of Bien, with the addition of the -er
agent suffix.
BIONOWICI
BIRNBAUM
German: topographic name for someone who lived by a pear tree,
from Middle High German bir ‘pear’ + boum ‘tree’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Birnbaum ‘pear tree’,
applied mainly as an ornamental name, possibly occasionally as a
topographic name.
BITKOWER
BITTMANN
BLASENSTEIN
BLECHER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a worker
in tinor some other metal.
BLUM
German: from Middle High German bluom ‘flower’, hence an
occupational name for a flower gardener or a florist.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Blume,
Yiddish blum ‘flower’.
BLUMENFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German Blume
‘flower’ + Feld ‘field’.
BRANDES
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from the Czech town of
Brandýs, on the Labe (Elbe) river, called Brandeis in German.
BRANDMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, a derivative of Brand.
habitational name from the Czech town of Brandýs, on the Labe
(Elbe) river, called Brandeis in German.
BRAUN
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.
BRAUNSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German braun
‘brown’ + Stein ‘stone’.
BRECHER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from an agent derivative of
German brechen ‘to break’, an occupational name for someone
who crushed hemp or flax, or possibly a nickname for a lawbreaker.
BREIER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Breuer or Bräuer,
North German and Ashkenazic Jewish, or Americanized form of
German Bräuer, an occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale,
from Middle Low German bruwer or Middle High German
briuwer ‘brewer’.
BRENDER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Brander. Perhaps an occupational
name for fireman or distiller, from German Brand, Yiddish
brand ‘conflagration’.
BUCHBINDER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a
bookbinder, German Buchbinder.
BUECHLER
from the common field name Büchle ‘beech stand’, the
-er suffix denoting an inhabitant.
BURG
Jewish: variant of Burger.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’. 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.
CAHANE
Jewish (from Romania): variant of Cohen, from Hebrew
kohen ‘priest’. Priests are traditionally regarded as members of
a hereditary caste descended from Aaron, brother of Moses.
CLASSEN
Dutch, North German, and Danish: patronymic from the personal
name Klaas, a reduced form of Nik(o)laas
COHEN
Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests are
traditionally regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended
from Aaron, brother of Moses.
COHN
Variant spelling of Cohen.: from Hebrew kohen
‘priest’. Priests are traditionally regarded as members of a
hereditary caste descended from Aaron, brother of Moses.
DACHNER
DALFIN
DALFINER
DANKNER
DASKEL
Jewish (from Romania and Moldova): occupational name from
Romanian dascal ‘teacher’, ‘cantor’ (in a synagogue).
DAUBER
Variant of Tauber or a habitational name from Dauba, near
Aussig, now in Czech Republic.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Taub, with the strong
inflectional ending -er, originally used before a male
personal name.
DAWIDOWICZ
From David, the son of David
DERBARMDIKER
DERMER
German: from an old personal name, Terrimar, a variant of
Därr.
German: variant of Dörmer (standard German Türmer), an
occupational name for a watchman on a tower (of a castle or town),
from an agent derivative of Middle Low German torn or Middle
High German turn ‘tower’.
Jewish: unexplained.
DISTENFELD
DOLBERG
Dutch: habitational name from Dolberg in Klimmen, Netherlands,
or possibly from Dolberg in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
DOLINER
DONNENFELD
DRASINOVER
DRUCKMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a printer.
EBENSTEIN
ECKHAUS
Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic or ornamental name from German
Eckhaus ‘corner house’.
EDELSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, from German Edelstein
‘gem’, ‘precious stone’.
EGER
Hungarian: habitational name for someone from any of various
places called Eger, in Fehér, Heves, and Zala counties, or former
Nyitra County, now in Slovakia. In some cases the name may derive
from éger ‘alder’.
German: habitational name from Eger in western Bohemia (Czech
name Cheb).
EHRLICH
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname or ornamental name from German
ehrlich ‘honorable’, ‘honest’, or Yiddish erlekh
‘honest’, ‘virtuous’.
EIDINGER
EIFERMANN
EISENKRAFT
ELLENBOGEN
German: topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a
river, from Middle High German el(l)enboge ‘elbow’, or
habitational name from any of several places named Ellenbogen or
Ehlenbogen from this word.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Ellenbogen
‘elbow’.
ELOSOVAR
ENGLER
South German: patronymic from Engel, Jewish (Ashkenazic):
ornamental name from German Engel ‘angel’
ESSNER
German: probably a reduced form of Essener, a habitational name
for someone from a place named Essen, of which there are several in
northern Germany.
FALIK
FASSLER
German (also Fässler): occupational name for a cooper, from
Middle High German vaz, vezzel ‘keg’ (a diminutive of
vaz ‘barrel’) + the agent suffix -er.
FAUST
German, Jewish (Ashkenazic), and French (Alsace-Lorraine): from
Middle High German fust ‘fist’, presumably a nickname for a
strong or pugnacious person or for someone with a club hand or other
deformity of the hand.
FEDER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for
a trader in feathers or in quill pens, from Middle High German
veder(e), German Feder ‘feather’, ‘quill’, ‘pen’.
FEIBISCH
FEIBUS
FEIGER
FEINGOLD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German fein
‘fine’ + Gold ‘gold’.
FEINHOLZ
FEIT
nickname from Middle High German feit ‘adorned’, ‘pretty’
FELDHAMMER
FELDMANN
German: topographic name for someone who lived in open country;
a variant of Feld, with the addition of Middle High German man
‘man’.
FELDSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German Feld
‘field’ + Stein ‘stone’.
FEUCHLANDER
FEUER
FEUERWERKER
FICHMAN
FINKLER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Finkel, Jewish (eastern
Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Yiddish finkl ‘sparkle’.
FISCHEL
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Fishl,
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Fishl,
literally ‘little fish’, used as a vernacular equivalent for the
Biblical Efraym (Ephraim). Ephraim became associated with the
fish because he was blessed by his father Jacob (Genesis 48:16) with
the words veyidgu larov ‘Let them grow into a multitude’, the
verb yidgu, containing the root letters of Hebrew dag
‘fish’
FISCHER
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.
FISCHLER
South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Fischer.
FIUL
FLEISCHER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher,
from Fleisch ‘flesh’, ‘meat’ + the agent suffix -er.
FRANKEL
German (also Fränkel) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): diminutive of
Frank, 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.
FREIER
Status name of the feudal system denoting a free man, as opposed
to a bondsman, from an inflected form of Middle High German vri
‘free’.
Archaic occupational name, from Middle High German, Middle Low
German vrier, vriger, denoting a man who had the
ceremonial duty of asking guests to a wedding.
FREMINGER
FREUNDLICH
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname meaning ‘friendly’, a
derivative of Freund. Among Jews this is mainly an ornamental name.Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Freund
‘friend’.
FRIDEL
FRIEDMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): elaborated form of Fried. Jewish
(Ashkenazic): from Yiddish frid ‘peace’. Compare modern
German Friede, which was sometimes chosen as a translation of
the Hebrew personal name Shlomo, whose root letters are the
same as those of shalom ‘peace’, although in most cases it is
simply an ornamental name.
FRITZ
German: from a pet form of Friedrich. It is also found as a
surname in Denmark, Sweden, and elsewhere.
FRONER
FUCHS
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.
FUHRER
(Führer): occupational name for a carrier or carter, a driver of
horse-drawn vehicles, Middle High German vüerer
FUHRMAN
Respelling of German Fuhrmann. German: from Middle High German
vuorman ‘carter’, ‘driver’.
FUKSS
FUND
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Pfund ‘pound’, either a
nickname or one of the names chosen at random from vocabulary words
in the 18th and 19th centuries by government officials at the time
when surnames became compulsory.
FURMANN
GABA
From Gabe, German: from a short form of Germanic personal name
formed with geba ‘gift’. Compare Gebhardt.
GÄNSER
German: occupational name for a breeder or keeper of geese, from
an agent derivative of Middle High German gans ‘goose’.
GABOR
Hungarian (Gábor) and Jewish (from Hungary): from the personal
name Gábor, Hungarian form of Gabriel.
GARTENLAUB
GELBER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): inflected form of Gelb, Jewish
(Ashkenazic): nickname for a man with red hair.
GELLER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a man with red hair, from the
strong form of Yiddish gel ‘red-headed’ (Middle High German
gel ‘yellow’). There has been considerable confusion with
German gelb ‘yellow’, since the meaning change from ‘yellow’
to ‘red’ took place only in Yiddish and only with reference to
people’s complexion or hair coloring.
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Heller , originating
under Russian influence, since Russian has no h and alters
h in borrowed words to g.
GENSER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for someone
who kept, tended, or sold geese, from Middle High German gans
‘goose’.
GENSLER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a breeder of geese,
from an agent derivative of German Gans ‘goose’.
GERSCHONOWICZ
GERTLER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Gürtler,
German (Gürtler): occupational name for a maker of straps and
belts, from Middle High German gurtel ‘belt’ (specifically a
leather belt with brass fittings, from which a purse would be hung).
GEWIRER
GHELMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Geller, Jewish
(Ashkenazic): nickname for a man with red hair, from the strong form
of Yiddish gel ‘red-headed’ (Middle High German gel
‘yellow’). There has been considerable confusion with German gelb
‘yellow’, since the meaning change from ‘yellow’ to ‘red’ took place
only in Yiddish and only with reference to people’s complexion or
hair coloring.
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Heller, originating
under Russian influence, since Russian has no h and alters
h in borrowed words to g. Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname
for a person with fair hair or a light complexion, from an inflected
form, used before a male personal name, of German hell
‘light’, ‘bright’, Yiddish hel.
GHIMPOVICI
GIMPEL
German: from a pet form of the personal name Gumprecht.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Gimpl,
a derivative of German Gumprecht.
GINGOLD
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Yiddish
gingold ‘fine gold’.
GINSBERG
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental variant of Ginsburg. Jewish
(Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from Günzburg in Swabia,
which derives its name from the river Günz (in early Latin records
Guntia, probably of Celtic origin) + Old High German burg
‘fortress’, ‘walled town’.
GISELNIK
GLASBERG
GLUECKSTERN
GOLDAPER
GOLDENBERG
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, a compound of German
golden ‘golden’ + Berg ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
GOLDFARB
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German Gold
‘gold’ + Farbe ‘color’.
GOLDHAGEN
GOLDHIRSCH
GOLDSCHEIN
GOLDSCHMIDT
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a worker
in gold, Middle High German goltsmit, German Goldschmied.
GOLDSCLHLAGER
GOLDSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German Gold
‘gold’ + Stein ‘stone’.
German: from a medieval personal name, nickname, or occupational
name from Middle High German, Middle Low German golste(i)n
‘gold stone’, ‘precious stone’, (probably chrysolite or topaz, which
was used as a testing stone by alchemists).
GOTESMAN
GOTTFRIED
German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements
god, got ‘god’ + frid(u) ‘peace’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German Gott
‘God’ + Friede ‘peace’, or ornamental adoption of the German
personal name as a surname.
GOTTLIEB
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name
Gottlieb. As a German personal name this is for the most part a
translation of Greek Theophilos (‘one who loves God’) that
became very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries with the rise of
the Pietist movement. Among German Jews, it existed, independently
from German Christians, since the Middle Ages.
German: from the personal name Goteleib, based on Old
High German god, got ‘god’ + leiba ‘offspring’,
‘son’.
GRABER
German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German graben
‘to dig or excavate’, hence an occupational name for a digger of
graves or ditches, or an engraver of seals. This name is also found
in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a grave-digger,
either from German Gräber or from a Yiddishized form of
Polish grabarz.
GRAF
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name selected, like Herzog and
other words denoting titles, because of their aristocratic
connotations
GRATZ
habitational name from several places so named in Austria,
Bohemia, and Moravia.
From a short form of a Germanic personal name reflected by Old
High German gratag ‘greedy’.
GRIMBERG
GRINBERG
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Grünberg, Jewish
(Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German grün ‘green’ +
Berg ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
GRONICH
GROPPER
German: occupational name for someone who fished for grouper,
from Gropp + -er suffix denoting human agency.
North German (Gröpper): Westphalian occupational name for a
maker of metal or earthenware vessels, from Middle Low German
grope ‘pot’ + agent suffix -er.
GROSMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): elaborated form of Gross. 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.
GROSS
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.
GRUENFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German grün
‘green’ + Feld ‘field’
GRÜNBERG
GRUNFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German grün
‘green’ + Feld ‘field’.
GUTTMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name or nickname from German,
Yiddish gut ‘good’ + man(n) ‘man’; it was also used as
a male personal name, from which the surname may be derived in some
cases.
HAAR
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with a
copious or otherwise noticeable head of hair, from Middle High
German har ‘hair’, German Haar ‘hair’.
HALEVI
Jewish (Ashkenazic and Sephardic): from the Biblical personal
name Levi, from a Hebrew word meaning ‘joining’. This was
borne by a son of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29: 34). Bearers of this
name are Levites, members of the tribe of Levi, who form a
hereditary caste who assist the kohanim in their priestly
duties.
HALLER
German: variant of Heller, Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a
person with fair hair or a light complexion, from an inflected form,
used before a male personal name, of German hell ‘light’,
‘bright’, Yiddish hel.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from
Schwäbisch Hall.
HALPERIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Halpern. Jewish (Ashkenazic):
habitational name from the city of Heilbronn in Württemberg, which
had a large and influential Jewish population in medieval times.
HALSTUCH
HARTH
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Hart, ornamental name or a
nickname from German and Yiddish hart ‘hard’.
.HEIER
South German: generally a variant of Hauer, but in some cases an
occupational name from Middle High German heie ‘ranger’,
‘guard’.
HENNER
German: patronymic from Henne German: nickname or metonymic
occupational name for a poultry keeper from Middle High German
henne ‘hen’, ‘chicken’. German: habitational name from Hänner in
Säckingen,
HELLER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from
Schwäbisch Hall.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a person with fair hair or a
light complexion, from an inflected form, used before a male
personal name, of German hell ‘light’, ‘bright’, Yiddish
hel.
German: nickname from the small medieval coin known as the
häller or heller because it was first minted (in 1208) at
the Swabian town of (Schwäbisch) Hall. Compare Hall.
HELLMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Hellerman.Jewish
(Ashkenazic): nickname for a person with fair hair or a light
complexion, a derivative of Heller
HENDLER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a merchant
or trader, Middle High German hendeler, German Händler.
HERLING
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Herling
‘unripe grapes’.
HESS
German, Dutch, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): regional name
for someone from the territory of Hesse (German Hessen).
HOCHSTÄTD
HOFFER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Hofer, 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.
HOFFMANN
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.
HOLZER
German (also Hölzer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling
of Holtzer, Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a woodcutter
or someone who sold wood, from an agent derivative of German Holz
‘wood’.
HOROWITZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from Horovice in central
Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, which is named with a short form
of a personal name formed with Hor, as for example Horimir,
Horislav.
HORTNER
HUBER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a southern Yiddish pronunciation of
Yiddish hober ‘oats’, German and Jewish (Ashkenazic):
metonymic occupational name for a grower of or dealer in oats, from
Middle High German haber(e) ‘oats’, modern German Hafer.
As a Jewish surname, it is in many cases ornamental.
HUTTMAN
IACOB
Jewish, derivative, via Latin Jacobus, from the Hebrew
personal name ya‘aqobh (Yaakov). In the Bible, this is
the name of the younger twin brother of Esau (Genesis 25:26), who
took advantage of the latter’s hunger and impetuousness to persuade
him to part with his birthright ‘for a mess of potage’. The name is
traditionally interpreted as coming from Hebrew akev ‘heel’,
and Jacob is said to have been born holding on to Esau’s heel.
ISAK
IUNI
IWANIER
IZAK
JAEGER
German (mostly Jäger) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name
for a hunter, Middle High German jeger(e), Middle Low German
jeger(e) (agent derivatives of jagen ‘to hunt’); as a
Jewish surname, it is mainly ornamental, derived from German
Jäger. The surname is also established in Scandinavia (Swedish
Jäger; Danish and Norwegian Jæger) and has been Latinized as
Venator.
JERES
JURAN
Czech and Slovak (Juran, Jurán) and Croatian: from a derivative
of the personal name, Czech (Moravian dialect) Jura, Croatian
Juraj, vernacular forms of Greek Georgios
JURGRAU
KABRAN
KAHAN
·Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): one of the
many forms of Cohen, Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests
are traditionally regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended
from Aaron, brother of Moses.
KAHN
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): one of the many forms of Cohen,
Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests are traditionally
regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended from Aaron,
brother of Moses.
KALMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Kalmen,
an everyday form of Kloynemes (from Hebrew Kalonimos,
which is from Greek kalos ‘lovely’ or kallos ‘beauty’
+ onyma ‘name’). This Hebrew name is first recorded in the
Talmud and has been used continuously since then.
KARPEL
German and Polish: from a personal name, a diminutive of Karp.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name karpl,
a pet form of Karp. German, Polish, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic):
from Middle High German karp(f)e, Middle Low German karpe,
or Slavic (Russian and Polish) and Yiddish karp ‘carp’, hence
a metonymic occupational name for a carp fisherman or seller of
these fish, or a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish.
As a Jewish surname it is often of ornamental origin.
Altered form of Polish Karpiel ‘rutabago’, a metonymic nickname
for a peasant farmer.
KATZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): acronym from the Hebrew phrase kohen
tsedek ‘priest of righteousness’ (see Cohen).
KAUFMANN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name Kaufman,
Yiddish koyfman, meaning ‘merchant’.
KELLNER
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.
KERKER
South German: variant of Kercher, but also from the dialect word
Kerker ‘prison’ (Latin carcer), hence a metonymic
occupational name for a prison warder or possibly a topographic
name.
North German: topographic name for someone who lived near a
church, from Low German kerke ‘church’, or possibly an
occupational name from a reduced form of Low German Kerkener
‘sexton’.
KERZNER
South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a
candlemaker, from Middle High German kerze ‘candle’, German
Kerze + the agent suffix -(n)er.
KIMEL
Variant of German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) Kimmel.German
and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German kumin,
German Kümmel ‘caraway’ (related to Latin cuminum, a word of
Oriental origin, like the plant itself), hence a metonymic
occupational name for a spicer, literally a supplier of caraway
seeds.
KIMELMANN
Variant of German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) Kimmel.German
and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German kumin,
German Kümmel ‘caraway’ (related to Latin cuminum, a word of
Oriental origin, like the plant itself), hence a metonymic
occupational name for a spicer, literally a supplier of caraway
seeds.
KINIK
KINSBRUNER
KIRSCHENBAUM
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Kirschbaum.
German: topographic name from Kirschbaum ‘cherry tree’.
KISSMANN
KLANG
Swedish: soldier’s name from klang ‘clang’, ‘ringing
noise’.
Possibly also German: from an altered and reduced form of the
personal name Nikolaus, vernacular form of Greek Nikolaos
KLECKNER
Respelling of German Klöckner, North German, Rhineland,
and Westphalian (Klöckner): occupational name for a bell ringer,
sexton, or the like, from an agent derivative of Klock.
KLEIN
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.
KLEINBERGER
From Kleinberg, Jewish: ornamental name from German klein
‘small’ + Berg ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
KLEKNER
KLIFFER
KLINGHOFER
KNAUER
(Silesian) nickname for a gnarled person, from Middle High
German knur(e) ‘knot’, ‘gnarl’.
habitational name for someone from either of two places in
Thuringia called Knau.
KNOBLER
KOBER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a derivative of the
personal name Jakob or Yakov.
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.
KOBRIN
Jewish (from Belarus): habitational name from Kobrin, now in
Belarus.
KOCH
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.
KOERNER
Occupational name for a grain merchant or possibly for the
administrator of a granary, Middle High German körner.
Nickname for a miller, from a noun derivative of Middle High
German kürne ‘mill’.
KOFFLER
South German (also Köf(f)ler): topographic name for someone
living by a rounded hilltop
KOHN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Cohen.
KÖNIG
German (König) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German
kunic, German König ‘king’, hence a German nickname
for a servant or retainer of a king (for example, a farmer on a
royal demesne); or alternatively a status name for the head of a
craftmen’s guild, or a society of sharpshooters or minstrels. As a
Jewish surname, it was ornamental, one of several such Ashkenazic
names based on European titles of nobility or royalty.
KOPPELMANN
KORBER
German (also Körber) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name
for a basketmaker, from an agent derivative of Korb, German and
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German korb, German
Korb ‘basket’, applied as a metonymic occupational name for a
basketmaker or for a peddler who carried his wares around in a
basket.
KORN
German: from Middle High German korn ‘grain’, a metonymic
occupational name for a factor or dealer in grain or a nickname for
a peasant.
KÖRNER
Occupational name for a grain merchant or possibly for the
administrator of a granary, Middle High German körner.
Nickname for a miller, from a noun derivative of Middle High
German kürne ‘mill’.
KOSTINER
KRAFT
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.
KRAKAUER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone
from the Polish city of Kraków, from its German name Krakau.
KREIMER
Jewish (from Ukraine and Poland): occupational name from Yiddish
dialect kreymer ‘shopkeeper’
KRIMSKI
KRONENFELD
KRUMHOLZ
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Krumbholz ‘bent
timber’, ‘mountain pine’, hence probably a metonymic occupational
name for a cartwright or wheelwright. As a Jewish surname it is
ornamental.
KULA
Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Jewish (from Poland): nickname for a
rotund person, from Polish kula ‘ball’, Czech dialect kula
(standard Czech koule).
Jewish (from Belarus): habitational name from Kulya, now in
Belarus.
KURZ
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Kurtz.German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone who was
short in stature, from Middle High German kur(t)z, German
kurz ‘short’.
KURZBERG
LACHMANN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name lakhman,
a variant of Nachman.
LADENHEIM
LAMPNER
LANDAU
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from either of
two places called Landau, in the Palatinate and in Alsace, named
with Old High German lant ‘land’, ‘territory’ + auwa
‘damp valley’. According to family history, the Jewish surname
originated from the Palatinate.
LANDMANN
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Lander, German
and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name from Middle High German
lant, German Land ‘land’, ‘territory’ used originally to
denote either someone who was a native of the area in which he
lived, in contrast to a newcomer ,or someone who lived in the
countryside as opposed to a town.
LANDSBERG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of
several places so named.
LANDWEHR
German: from a Germanic personal name, Lantwer, composed
of the elements lant ‘land’ + wer ‘defender’.
LANG
German, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a tall person.
LANGER
German, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a tall person.
LANZET
LASTER
LAUFER
German (Läufer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a
messenger or a nickname for a fast runner, from an agent derivative
of Middle
High German loufen, German laufen ‘to run’.
LAUFMANN
German
(Laufmann) or Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Laufer.
LAZAR
Jewish, German, Hungarian (Lázár), Slovenian, and Polish: from a
personal name of Aramaic origin, a reduced form of the Hebrew male
personal name Elazar, composed of the elements El
‘God’ + azar ‘help’, and meaning ‘may God help him’ or ‘God
has helped (i.e., by granting a son)’. This was well established in
central Europe as a Jewish name.
LEBENSCHUSS
LECKER
German: derogatory nickname a sycophant or sponger, from an
agent derivative of lecken ‘to lick’.
LEDER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for
a tanner or leatherworker, from Middle High German and Yiddish
leder, German Leder ‘leather’.
LEHRER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a teacher, from
modern German Lehrer, Yiddish lerer ‘teacher’.
LEIB
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Leyb,
meaning ‘lion’, traditional Yiddish translation equivalent of the
Hebrew name Yehuda (Judah), with reference to the Old
Testament description of Judah as ‘a lion’s whelp’ (Genesis 49: 9).
LEIBOWICH
LEIMSIDER
LEISER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Leyzer,
from the Biblical name Eliezer (Genesis 15: 2).
LENZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Lenz ‘spring’ (see 2),
one of the class of ornamental names adopted from words denoting the
seasons
LESSNER
German: habitational name for someone from any of several places
named Lessen.
LETTICH
LIBRUS
LIEBERMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Liberman. Jewish (Ashkenazic):
from the Yiddish personal name Liberman, meaning ‘beloved
man’.
LIMZIDAR
LINDER
German: habitational name from any of numerous places called
Linden or Lindern, named with German Linden ‘lime trees’.
LIPP
German: from a pet form of the personal name
Philipp
LÖBEL
German (Löb) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a strong man,
from Middle High German lebe, lewe ‘lion’, or a
habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the
sign of a lion.
Jewish (western Ashkenazic): variant of Leib.
LOCKER
From Lecker,German: derogatory nickname a sycophant or
sponger, from an agent derivative of lecken ‘to lick’.
LÖWENSCHUSS
LOWIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): German and Polish spelling of Levin, Jewish
(Ashkenazic and Sephardic): from the Biblical personal name Levi,
from a Hebrew word meaning ‘joining’. This was borne by a son of
Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29: 34). Bearers of this name are Levites,
members of the tribe of Levi, who form a hereditary caste who assist
the kohanim.
Jewish (Ashkenazic) and German: from the personal name Levin,
which was also used by German Christians as a derivative of
Liebwin. As a Jewish name it sometimes represents a pet form of
western Yiddish ‘lion’
LUTWAK
LEWIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): German and Polish spelling of Levin, Jewish
(Ashkenazic and Sephardic): from the Biblical personal name Levi,
from a Hebrew word meaning ‘joining’. This was borne by a son of
Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29: 34). Bearers of this name are Levites,
members of the tribe of Levi, who form a hereditary caste who assist
the kohanim.
Jewish (Ashkenazic) and German: from the personal name Levin,
which was also used by German Christians as a derivative of
Liebwin. As a Jewish name it sometimes represents a pet form of
western Yiddish ‘lion’
MAIDANEK
MAIER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Meyer
(from Hebrew Meir ‘enlightener’, a derivative of Hebrew or
‘light’).
MARCOWICZ
MARGULIES
Jewish (from Ukraine and Poland): variant of Margolis. Jewish
(from Belarus, Lithuania, and northeastern Poland): from the female
personal name Margolis, meaning ‘pearls’ in Hebrew. The
Hebrew word is ultimately of Greek origin, as in Greek margaron,
margarites ‘pearl’
MARIAN
Romanian: from the personal name Marian, from Latin
Marianus
MARKUS
German, Dutch, and Hungarian (Márkus): from the personal name,
from Latin Marcus, Jewish from Mordechai.
MARMORISCH
MECHLOWITZ
MEHLER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a miller or flour
merchant, from an agent derivative of German Mehl ‘flour’.
MEIER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Meyer
(from Hebrew Meir ‘enlightener’, a derivative of Hebrew or
‘light’).
MEISELES
MEISTER
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.
MELAMED
Jewish (Ashkenazic and Sephardic): Hebrew occupational name for
a primary school teacher.
MELZER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Meltzer ‘maltster’.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a maltster, a
brewer who used malt, from German Meltzer (an agent
derivative of Middle High German malt ‘malt’, ‘germinated
barley’), Yiddish meltser ‘maltster’. This surname is also
established in Poland.
MENASCHES
Jewish: from the Biblical male personal name
Menashe
MENDELEWICZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Mendl,
a diminutive of Man
MERDLER
MERLAUB
MILRAD
MINTZ
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from the city
of Mainz in Germany.
MITTELMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from Yiddish mitlman ‘man
of moderate means’.
MOLDIWER
MONTAG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German
mantac, German Montag ‘Monday’. As a German name, this
was a nickname for someone who had a particular association with
this day of the week, probably because he owed feudal service then.
As a Jewish name, it is either ornamental or it may have been
adopted or given with reference to the day of registration of the
surname.
MORDLER
MORGENSTEIN
Altered form of Morgenstern. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German
Morgenstern ‘morning star’, Yiddish morgn-shtern, one of
the Jewish ornamental names taken from natural phenomena.
Ornamental name compound from German Morgen ‘morning’ +
Stein ‘stone’.
MOSBERG
MOSER
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’.
MOSZKOWICZ
MÜCK
German (also Mück(e)): nickname from Middle High German mucke
‘midge’, ‘gnat’, denoting a small person, an irritating person, or
someone considered to be of no importance.
MÜLLER
German (Müller) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a
miller, Middle High German müller, German Müller. In
Germany Müller, Mueller is the most frequent of all surnames; in the
U.S. it is often changed to Miller.
MÜNSTER
German and Dutch (Munster, Münster): habitational name from
places called Munster or Münster, derived from Latin monasterium
‘monastery’, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a
monastery.
MÜNZER
German (Münzer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a
moneyer, Middle High German münzære, GermanMünzer.
NEUMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Neumann. 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’.
NOE
English, German, Dutch, French (Noé, Noë), Spanish (Noé),
Catalan (Noè): from the Biblical personal name Noach ‘Noah’,
which means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew. According to the Book of Genesis,
Noah, having been forewarned by God, built an ark into which he took
his family and representatives of every species of animal, and so
was saved from the flood that God sent to destroy the world because
of human wickedness. The personal name was not common among non-Jews
in the Middle Ages, but the Biblical story was an extremely popular
subject for miracle plays. In many cases, therefore, the surname
probably derives from a nickname referring to someone who had played
the part of Noah in a miracle play or pageant, rather than from a
personal name.
NORMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Nordman. German and Jewish
(Ashkenazic): topographic name from German Nord ‘north’ +
man ‘man’
NUS
OBERLAENDER
OLIGER
Occupational name for an oil merchant, from Middle High German
oleier ‘oil miller’ (i.e. someone who extracted olive oil
from olives).
habitational name for someone from either of two places called
Ohlig, in the Sieg district or in the Rhineland.
OSTFELD
PÄCHT
German (of Slavic origin): from a pet form of Petr, Czech
form of Peter.
PANKNER
PASTERNAK
Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from Polish,
Ukrainian, and eastern Yiddish pasternak ‘parsnip’ (via
Middle High German from Latin pastinaca), apparently a
nickname or in the case of the Jewish surname, an ornamental name.
PATATU
PAUKER
PEREZ
Jewish: from a Biblical name, borne by a grandson of the
patriarch Jacob, meaning ‘burst forth’ (Genesis 38:29).
PERLMAN
Elaborated form of Pearl, with the addition of Yiddish man
‘man’.
From the Yiddish female personal name Perl + man
‘man’, in the sense ‘husband of Perl’.
PERLMUTER
PISTINER
POLAK
Polish, Czech (Polák), and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ethnic name for
someone from Poland. In the case of the Ashkenazic name, the
reference is to a Jew from Poland. The name of the country (Polish
Polska) derives from a Slavic element pole ‘open
country’, ‘cleared land’. This surname is found throughout central
and eastern Europe.
PREISS
German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a laudable
or celebrated person, from Middle High German pris, Dutch
prijs, German Preis ‘praise’, ‘fame’, ‘worth’.
Southern German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): regional name for
someone from Prussia, from a southern German variant of Preuss or
from Yiddish prays ‘Prussia’.
PREMINGER
RACHMUTH
RAIZ
RAPPAPORT
Jewish (Ashkenazic): most people bearing this name are descended
from Avrom-Menakhem Ben-Yankev Hakoyen Rapa, who lived in Porto,
Italy, at the beginning of the 16th century. The etymology of his
name is uncertain but possibly from German Rappe ‘raven’.
Compare Rapp. According to one explanation his descendants added the
name of their city, Porto, in order to distinguish themselves from
unrelated Jews surnamed Rapa; according to another, there was a
marriage between the Rapa and Porto families, and the issue of this
union took the compound name.
RAUCH
Variant of Rau. German: nickname for a ruffian, earlier for a
hairy person, from Middle High German ruch, ruhe,
rouch ‘hairy’, ‘shaggy’, ‘rough’.
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).
REGENBOGEN
REICHER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a wealthy or
powerful man, from Middle High German rich ‘of noble
descent’, ‘powerful’, ‘rich’, German reich ‘rich’.
REICHMAN
German (Reichmann) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a
powerful or wealthy man, from Middle High German rich, German
reich ‘noble’, ‘powerful’, ‘rich’ + man, modern German
Mann ‘man’.
REIF
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name or nickname from German
reif ‘mature’.
REINISCH
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
REINSTEIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental compound of German rein
‘pure’ + Stein ‘stone’.
REISBERG
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name compound from German
Reis ‘rice’ + Berg ‘hill’.
REISS
Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a dealer in
rice or an ornamental name from German Reis ‘rice’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Reis
‘twig’, ‘branch’.
RENMERT
RICZKER
RIESEL
RINGEL
from Middle High German ringel, diminutive of rinc,
ring ‘ring’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker
of bone, horn, or ivory rings
Topographic name for someone who lived in or by a circular plot
or settlement, from the same word.
Metonymic occupational name for a cooper, from Middle Low German
ringel ‘tub’.
RINGLER
German: occupational name for a maker of bone, horn, or ivory
rings, from an agent derivative of Middle High German ringelen
‘to provide with rings’.
RIPPEL
Variant of Rüppel , or a variant of Rüpel.
From a pet form of a Germanic personal name based on ric
‘power(ful)’, ‘rich’.
RITSCHKER
ROBINSON
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Rubin or Rabin.
ROLL
German: from Middle High German rolle, rulle
‘roll’, ‘list’, possibly applied as a metonymic occupational name
for a scribe.
German: habitational name for someone from either of two places
named Rolle, in Westphalia and Pomerania.
RONES
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metronymic from the Yiddish female
personal name Rone, of uncertain origin, + the Yiddish
possessive suffix -s.
ROSENBACH
German: habitational name from any of numerous places so named
ROSENBERG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of
numerous places so named (‘rose mountain’).
Swedish, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name
composed of the elements ros(e) ‘rose’ + the affix -en
(taken from German) + berg ‘mountain’.
ROSENBLATT
German: from Middle High German rosenblat ‘rose leaf’,
presumably applied as a nickname.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental adoption of modern German
Rosenblatt ‘rose leaf’.
ROSENBLUM
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of modern German
Rosen- ‘rose’ + Blume ‘flower’.
ROSENFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Rosenfeld
‘rose field’.
ROSENKRANTZ
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental adoption of the Dutch and German
name, or of the German word Rosenkranz ‘wreath’.
ROSENSTRAUCH
ROSENZWEIG
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Rosenzweig
‘rose twig’.
ROSNER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Rose, Jewish
(Ashkenazic): ornamental name from the word for the flower (German
Rose, Yiddish royz), or a metronymic name from the
Yiddish female personal name Royze, derived from the word for
the flower.
ROTFELD
ROTH
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.
RUBIN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Hebrew personal name Reuven
(interpreted in Genesis 29:32 as reu ‘behold’ + ben ‘a
son’). This Biblical name influenced the selection of Ashkenazic
surnames that are ostensibly derived from the German, Yiddish,
Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian vocabulary word rubin ‘ruby’
(from Late Latin rubinus (lapis), a derivative of rubeus
‘red’).
RUBINGER
RUDICH
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): patronymic from Rudy, Ukrainian,
Polish, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with
red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Slavic rudy ‘red’.
RUEBNER
RUFF
German: from a reduced form of the personal name Rudolf.
SAFIER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Safir. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic):
ornamental name from northeastern Yiddish dialect safir and
German Saphir ‘sapphire’.
SALMANOWITZ
SALNER
SALOMON
Jewish, German, Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish (Salomón), and
Polish: the usual spelling in these languages of Solomon and a
variant in others.
SALZMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a salt producer or
seller, from German Salz ‘salt’ + Mann ‘man’.
Respelling of the German surname Salzmann.
SAMMLER
SAND
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who
lived on patch of sandy soil, from the vocabulary word sand.
As a Swedish or Jewish name it was often purely ornamental.
SANGREICH
SCHACHER
German (also Schächer): derogatory nickname from Middle High
German schachære ‘robber’, ‘swindler’.
German: variant of Schach a Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from an
acronym of Hebrew sifte kohen ‘lips of the priest’. This is
the title of a religious commentary by Rabbi Schabtai Cohen.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): derogatory nickname from Yiddish shakher
‘petty traffic’, ‘bartering’, or ‘cheating’; or from the Polish word
szacher ‘swindler’
SCHÄCHTER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Schechter, Jewish (Ashkenazic):
occupational name, from Yiddish shekhter ‘ritual slaughterer’
(an agent derivative of shekhtn, of which the stem is from
Hebrew shachat ‘to slaughter’).
SCHAFFER
German: occupational name for a steward or bailiff, from an
agent derivative of Middle High German schaffen ‘to manage’.
South German (Schäffer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of
Schaefer, German (Schäfer) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational
name for a shepherd, from an agent derivative of German Schaf,
Middle High German schaf ‘sheep’. This name is widespread
throughout central and eastern Europe.
SCHAPIRA
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Shapiro, Jewish (eastern
Ashkenazic): habitational name among Eastern European Jews from the
Yiddish name of the German city of Speyer
SCHÄRF
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German, Middle
Low German scherf, a coin worth half a penny, possibly
applied as a nickname for a poor person.
SCHARFSTEIN
SCHATTNER
German and Jewish (western Ashkenazic): habitational name for
someone from any of several places named Schaten or Schatten, or a
topographic name for someone living in a shady location, from Middle
High German schate ‘shade’, ‘protection’.
SCHEIER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Yiddish shayer ‘barn’
SCHEPSER
SCHERZER
German, Austrian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for
a jester or a nickname for a facetious person, from an agent
derivative of Middle High German scherz, German Scherz
‘amusement’, ‘game’, ‘jest’.
SCHEUERMAN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Scheuer. Jewish (Ashkenazic):
topographic name from German Scheuer ‘barn’
Altered spelling of Scheuermann.
SCHIEBER
habitational name for someone from any of several places named
Schieben.
Occupational name for someone who used a tool that is pushed,
from an agent derivative of Middle High German schieben ‘to
push or shove’.
SCHILER
SCHLÄGEL
Variant of Schlegel, German: from Middle High German
slegel ‘hammer’, ‘tool for striking’ (Old High German slegil,
a derivative of slahan ‘to strike’), hence a metonymic
occupational name for a smith or mason, or a nickname for a forceful
person.
SCHLEIER
SCHLIESER
SCHMELZER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a smelter,
from an agent derivative of Middle High German smelzen,
German schmelzen ‘to smelt metal’.
SCHMERLER
SCHMIDT
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.
SCHNAPP
German: nickname for a chatterer, from Middle High German
snappen ‘to chatter’.
SCHNARCH
SCHNEER
SCHNEIDER
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.
SCHOLL
German and Dutch: nickname for a lumpish person or a farmer,
from Middle High German, Middle Dutch scholle ‘clod of
earth’.
SCHREIBER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schreiber, Yiddish
shrayber ‘writer’, adopted as a translation of Hebrew Soffer
‘scribe’.
SCHTEIGER
SCHUFF
German: metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of
scoops and ladles, from Middle High German schuofe ‘ladle’.
SCHULMAN
German (Schulmann): probably an occupational name for a teacher
in a school or seminary, from Middle High German schuol(e) +
man ‘man’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Schuler. Jewish (Ashkenazic):
occupational name for a Talmudic scholar or the sexton of a
synagogue, from an agent derivative of Yiddish shul
‘synagogue’.
SCHWARTZKOPF
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with dark
hair, from Middle High German swarz ‘black’, ‘dark’ + kopf
‘head’, German schwarz + Kopf.
SCHWARZ
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Schwartz.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with black hair
or a dark complexion, from Middle High German swarz, German
schwarz, Yiddish shvarts ‘dark’, ‘black’. This name is
widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.
SCHWIRMAN
SCHWITZ
SCHWIZER
SECHER
SEGENREICH
SEIDNER
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Seidler.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a silk weaver,
from an agent derivative of Middle High German side, German
Seide ‘silk’.
SELLNER
South German: from Middle High German seldener
‘inhabitant of a selde’, i.e. a hut with a small
kitchen-garden, but no agricultural land attached.
SEMMLER
German: variant of Semler.German and Jewish
(Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker of white rolls, from an
agent derivative of Middle High German semel, German
Semmel, Yiddish zeml ‘white bread roll’ (from Middle High
German semel(e), simel ‘fine wheat flour’). Such rolls
were in contrast to the coarse rye bread that was and is the norm in
many households.
SILBERBUSCH
SILBERHERZ
SILBERLICHT
SILBERSCHLAG
SILBERSLAG
SILBERSTEIN
German: from Middle High German silber ‘silver’ +
stein ‘stone’; a habitational name from a place so named in
Bavaria, or a topographic name.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Silber
‘silver’ + Stein ‘stone’.
SIMCHA
SIMON
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
SIMOREL
SINDEROWITZ
SINGER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a cantor in a
synagogue, from Yiddish zinger ‘singer’.
German: variant of Sänger in the sense of ‘poet’.
SIROTA
Jewish (from Ukraine and Polish): nickname from Ukrainian
syrota ‘orphan’.
SITTLER
German: topographic name for someone who lived in a place where
water collected, from sütte(l) ‘puddle’, ‘pool’ + the suffix
-er denoting an inhabitant.
SLOCZOWER
SMERTH
SOICHER
SOIFER
Jewish (from Ukraine and Poland): variant of Soffer,
Jewish: occupational name for a scribe, Hebrew sofer, Yiddish
soyfer.
SOMMER
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.
SOMMERFREUND
SONTAG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Sonntag.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German
sun(nen)tac, German Sonntag ‘Sunday’, a nickname for
someone who had some particular connection with Sunday. The German
surname may have arisen from a personal name for a child born on a
Sunday, for this was considered a lucky day. Among Jews, it seems to
have been one of the group of names referring to days of the week
that were distributed at random by government officials.
SPASSER
SPORN
German: possibly from Middle High German sporn ‘to spur’;
of uncertain application.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Sporn
‘spur’.
SRAIBER
STANGER
German: occupational name for a maker of shafts for spears and
the like, from an agent derivative of Middle High German stange
‘pole’, ‘shaft’.
STARK
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a strong, bold
person, from Middle High German stark(e), German stark
‘strong’, ‘brave’.
STAUBER
German (also Stäuber) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name
from Staub, with the addition of the German agent suffix -er.German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational nickname for a
miller, from Middle High German stoup, German Staub
‘dust’. The Jewish surname may also be ornamental.
STECHER
German: occupational name for someone who castrated farm
livestock, Middle High German stechære.
STECKEL
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German
steckel and Yiddish shtekl ‘little stick’, hence perhaps
a nickname for a thin person.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Stöckel ‘outhouse’.
STECOLCIC
STEENER
STEIER
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Yiddish shtayer ‘impost’,
‘duty’.
STEIGER
Variant of Steger. 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’.
Occupational name from Middle High German stiger
‘foreman’, ‘mine inspector’.
habitational name for someone from Steige in Alsace.
STEIN
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Stein ‘rock’,
Middle High German stein, hence a topographic name either for
someone who lived on stony ground or for someone who lived by a
notable outcrop of rock or by a stone boundary marker or monument.
It could also be a metonymic occupational name for a mason or
stonecutter, or, among Jews, an ornamental name. This name is
widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.
STEINER
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.
STEINHORN
STERN
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.
STERNBERG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of
various places so named all over Germany.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Stern
‘star’ + Berg ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
STERNLIB
STIEBER
German: nickname, possibly for a coward, from an agent
derivative of Middle High German stiuben ‘to run away’.
Variant of Stuber, German: habitational name for someone from a
place called Stuben in Württemberg.
Variant of Stuber, German: occupational name for the
owner/operator of a public gathering place or room, such as a guild
room, tavern, or inn, from Middle High German stube ‘heatable
room’ + the agent suffix -er.
Variant of Stoever, North German (Stöver): from Middle Low
German (bad)stover ‘bather’ or ‘worker at a public
bathhouse’, mainly an occupational name, but occasionally perhaps a
nickname for a dedicated bather.
STIER
German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German,
Middle Dutch stier, German Stier ‘bull’, ‘bullock’,
hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some
way or a metonymic occupational name for someone who tended cattle.
STIMMER
SUCHER
German: from Middle High German suocher ‘searcher’,
‘investigator’, ‘pursuer’, an agent derivative of suochen ‘to
seek (out)’, probably an occupational nickname for a huntsman.
Respelling of Jewish (from Lithuania) Zukher, a nickname from a
derivative of Yiddish zukhn ‘to seek’.
SURKIS
SURP
SÜSSMANN
German (Süssmann): elaborated form of Suess, literally ‘sweet
man’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Zusman,
literally ‘sweet man’.
SZYMBORSK
TABAK
Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a seller of
tobacco, from German Tabak, Yiddish and Ukrainian tabik
(all ultimately from Spanish tabaco, a word of Caribbean
origin). Tobacco was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
TÄGERMAN
TALER
TANNENBAUM
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): German topographic name or
Jewish ornamental name from German Tannenbaum ‘fir tree’,
‘pine tree’.
TENNENHAUS
TARTER
German: unexplained.
TAU
TAUB
Variant of Taube. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German
Taube ‘pigeon’, ‘dove’ (Middle High German tube). The
German name is either a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of
doves or pigeons or a nickname for a mild and gentle person; the
Jewish surname is ornamental.
Variant of Taube. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish female
personal name Toybe (from Yiddish toyb ‘dove’).
Nickname for a deaf person, from Middle High German toup,
German taub ‘deaf’. The adjective also had the sense ‘dull’,
‘stupid’, and this may lie behind some examples of the German name.
TAUBER
German: variant of Taube ‘pigeon’, ‘dove’. The -er
inflection denotes the male bird, but in most cases this is an
occupational name for a pigeon breeder, from an agent noun
derivative ending in -er(t).
German: occupational name for a player of the horn or a similar
musical instrument, Middle High German toubære.
TENNENHAUS
THUMIM
TISCHLER
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
TRAGERMANN
TREBITSCH
TRESSER
TRICHTER
TUCHMANN
USCHER
Jewish (from Poland and Ukraine): from a southern Yiddish
pronunciation of the Yiddish male personal name Osher (Hebrew
Asher).
VOGEL
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
WACHSTEIN
WÄCHTER
German 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).
WAGNER
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.
WAHRSINGER
WALD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Wald
‘forest’. Very few Jews would have been living anywhere near a
forest at the time when they acquired surnames, so as a Jewish name
its origins are unlikely to be topographic.
WALDMANN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Yiddish wald ‘forest’ + man
‘man’. Very few Jews would have been living anywhere near a forest
at the time when they acquired surnames, so in most cases this is
probably an ornamental name. In other cases it many be a metonymic
occupational name for someone whose job was connected with forestry,
such as a woodcutter or lumber merchant.
WALER
WALLFISCH
WALZER
South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name, a
reduced form of Walzenmüller, denoting a miller who milled by means
of rollers, Middle High German walze, German Walze
‘roller’.
WARTER
WASSERMANN
German (Wassermann) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): German topographic
name or Jewish ornamental or occupational name from Middle High
German wazzer, German Wasser, Yiddish vaser
‘water’ + Middle High German -man ‘man’, Yiddish
–man
WEGLER
WEIGEL
German: from a widespread medieval pet form of the personal name
Wigand, German: from the Germanic personal name
Wigant, originally a byname meaning ‘warrior’, from the present
participle of wigan ‘to fight’.
WEIKSELBLAT
WEINBERG
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from a place
called Weinberg or Weinberge, of which there are numerous examples,
especially in Austria and Bavaria.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Wein
‘wine’ + Berg ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
WEINFELD
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental compound from German Wein
‘wine’ + Feld ‘field’.
WEINGARTEN
South German: topographic name for someone living near a
vineyard, from Middle High German wingart, or a habitational
name from any of numerous places named Weingarten.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Weingarten
‘vineyard’
WEISER
Nickname for a wise man, from an agent derivative of Middle High
German wisen ‘to teach’.
Variant of Weisser. German: occupational name for a painter or
plasterer, from an agent derivative of Middle High German wizen
‘to make white’, ‘to whitewash’.
Variant of Weisser. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for
someone with white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion, from an
inflected form of Middle High German wiz ‘white’, German
weiss.
WEISS
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with white
hair or a remarkably pale complexion, from Middle High German wiz
‘white’, German weiss.
WEISSBROD
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with white
hair or a remarkably pale complexion, from Middle High German wiz
‘white’, German weiss.
WEISSMANN
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with white hair or a
pale complexion, from German weiss ‘white’ + Mann.
WELT
German: habitational name from a place so named in
Schleswig-Holstein.
Jewish: ornamental name from German Welt ‘world’.
WENGER
German: habitational name for someone from any of various places
in Bavaria named Weng or Wengen.
WENKERT
WERK
German: nickname for an artisan or craftsman, from Middle High
German werc(h) ‘work’, ‘craft’.
WERNER
German: from a personal name composed of the Germanic elements
war(in) ‘guard’ + heri, hari ‘army’.
WERPOLLER
WERSINGER
WESCHLER
German: variant of Wäscher. occupational name for a
washer, from an agent derivative of Middle High German waschen,
weschen ‘to wash’. Numerous trades involved washing processes
WIDMANN
Variant of Wiedmann ‘huntsman’.
Variant of Wideman, German (Widemann): from the Germanic
personal name Widiman, composed of witu ‘wood’ or
wit ‘wide’, ‘broad’ + man ‘man’.
WINDISCH
German: ethnic name from windisch ‘Slovenian’. This
surname is found mainly in Austria and in Slovenia itself, where it
is commonly spelled Vindiš.
WINKLER
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.
This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, being
found for example as a Czech, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian name.
WINNINGER
German: variant of Weininger, Jewish (Ashkenazic):
ornamental name from German Wein ‘wine’ + the suffix
-inger.
WINTER
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.
WITZ
From the medieval personal name Witzo, a short form of
any of several Germanic compound names beginning with wig
‘battle’.
Variant of Witzig. German: nickname from Middle High German
witzic ‘clever’, ‘prudent’, ‘knowing’.
WIZNITZER
A man from Vyzhnytsia (old german name: Wiznitz)
(German: Wischnitza), in north Bukovina
WOLF
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. 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).
WOLFER
from a reduced form of the Germanic personal names Wolfher
or Wolfhart, composed of the elements wolf ‘wolf’ +
hari ‘army’ or hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’.
topographic name for someone who lived in a place frequented by
wolves, Middle High German wolf, or a habitational name from
a place named with this word.
WOLKOWITZ
WOLLACH
WUCHER
WURM
German: nickname from Middle High German wurm, Middle Low
German worm ‘worm’, ‘snake’, ‘dragon’, ‘mythical beast’.
ZACHMANN
German: nickname from Middle High German zach
‘tenacious’, ‘stubborn’.
ZAPPLER
ZEIGER
occupational name for a sign maker, from Middle High German
zeiger ‘sign’, ‘guide’, ‘sign at an inn’.
Altered spelling of German Seiger, reflecting the German
pronunciation of the initial s, or of Zieger.
ZELIGMAN
ZIMMER
German: metonymic occupational name for a carpenter, either from
Middle High German zim(b)er, zimmer ‘wood’, ‘wooden
building’ or a shortening of Zimmermann
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.
ZINN
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for
a worker in pewter, Middle High German zin; German Zinn,
Yiddish tsin.
ZLOCZOWER
ZOREF
ZWECKER
* Dictionary of American Family
Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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