Surname Types and Origins

Last year, on the Ancestry blog, an article was posted about German surnames. The article, “There are Four Common Types of German Surnames – Which One is Yours?” by Leslie Lang can be found here.

Understanding surname practices is very important when researching your family origins, especially when that search takes you back into the medieval period. Some of the information here comes from the article noted above. That article focused on German names, but because some of the same concepts apply to surnames in use in other countries I will include information on those areas in addition to what the original article covered.

Basically, the blog notes that the first people in the German lands to use surnames were those of noble or royal descent. As the population increased, there was a greater need for surnames (in German - “Nachname” or “Familienname.”) to differentiate between people with similar given names. Merchants and general townspeople began to take on surnames. The practice came last to those living in rural or outlying areas were the population was smaller and it was still easy to keep names straight. This process took 2-300 hundred years, as the use of surnames spread. By the late Middle Ages, most people were using surnames.

The foregoing information is applicable to countries outside Germany as well. The nobility assumed names before the general population. But surname use came about earlier in England, probably influenced by the Domesday Book which required the cataloging of people by their name in 1086.  It is thought that the Normans brought the practice of using surnames with them from France and that surname use there may have begun as early as 1000 C.E.  Between 1250 and 1450, most English surnames were fixed.

"A Country Blacksmith Disputing upon the Price of Iron,
and the Price Charged to the Butcher for Shoeing his Poney,"
 a painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851)

People assumed surnames based on several facts about themselves, such as their occupation, appearance, home town, and parentage. Names based on occupation were the most common. These types of names commonly end with a specific suffix following the trader designation.  The “-er” suffix is common; for instance, a Baker becomes “Becker,” a butcher becomes “Fleischer” or “Metzger,”a mason becomes “Maurer,” a miller becomes known as “Muller” or “mueller,”and a tailor becomes “Schneider.”  Other endings include “-macher” as in maker of,; for instance, a window maker becomes known as “Fenstermacher.” The suffix “-hauer” or cutter is used to designate a tree cutter or hewer as “Baumhauer” where “baum” means tree. The suffix “-man” or “-mann” indicates a merchant, or “ome who sells”so the surname Kaufman represents this man’s trade. Other examples include: Bauer- farmer; Klingermann – weapons smith, Meier – farm administrator, Geiger- player of a violin, Schmidt-smith (as in blacksmith), Schulze –constable, Topfer or Toepfer – potter, Wagner – waggoner, carter, or cartwright, and Weber – weaver.

Other countries used this same naming practice. For instance, in England the following names developed from a bearer’s occupation: Archer, Bailey, Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Carter, Chandler, Clark, Collier, Cooper, Cook, Carpenter, Dempster, Dyer, Farmer, Faulkner, Fisher, Fletcher, Fowler, Fuller, Gardener, Glover, Hayward, Hawkins, Head, Hunt or Hunter, Judge, Knight, Miller, Mason, Page, Palmer, Parker, Porter, Potter, Sawyer, Shepherd, Slater, Smith, Stringer, Taylor, Thatcher, Turner, Walker, Weaver, Woodman and Wright (or variations such as Cartwright and Wainwright).

Some of the oldest types of surnames are those descriptive names which were based on the physical attributes of the person. For instance, a short or small man may be called “Klein,” while a large, big man may be names “Gross.” A man with black hair could be known as “Schwarzkopf”, or “Black headed.” A man with brown hair was called “Brun” or “Braun,” and a man with curly hair was called Krause. A man with red hair was known as “Roth.” Similar practices were common in other countries. Equivalent names for a red haired man include: Reid (English), Russ (English), Rousseau (French), Rossi (Italian) Cerveny (Czech), and Flynn (Irish). English descriptive names include: Short, Brown, Black, Whitehead, Young, Long, and White.

German home in the mountains.

People in Germany also adopted names based on the location of their homes or origins. By adding the suffix “-er” to their names, a person from Schwarzenegg became known as Schwarzenegger; Kissingen became Kissinger.  My own family name is thought to mean “from Wien” which is the state around Vienna, and hence the name became “Wiener.” Names could include descriptions of the land where a man lived, such as a man who lived on a mountain may come to be known as “Berger” or “from the berg” or mountain. In England, a man who lived along a stream was known as “brooks” and one who lived upon a tall hill was called, appropriately, “Hill.” Other English examples include: Bridge, Camp, Bush, Lake, Lee, Wood, Grove, Holmes, Forest, Underwood, Hall, Fields, Stone, Morley, and Moore.

The use of “von” in a person’s name was commonly use by the nobility in the Middle Ages and its use was restricted to use by only them after 1600. A ruling member of the aristocracy was entitled to use this designation to indicate their association with a town or village. For instance, Berthold von Westerstetten, Hermann von Hürnheim-Katzenstein (he owned and ruled in Katzenstein castle) or Adelheid von Hessen who was born to Heinrich von Hessen and Adelheid von Braunschweig. All indicate the town, region or castle they ruled with the use of “von.” When researching surnames in sources such as the “Almanach de Gotha,” it will be noted that “von” is often abbreviate to “v.” After 1919, when the Austria-Hungary Empire was dissolved, the restriction on the use of “von” was lifted. It is not uncommon to see its use by German immigrants to America, though they likely never used such a name form in their native lands. Amongst the Dutch or Swiss, “van” was later used, but did not indicate nobility either.

Lastly, German names were sometimes based on parentage, or more specifically, the relationship of the bearer to a father. This naming practice was more common in the northern areas of Germany. Johann, the son of Peter became known as “Petersohn” or “Peterson.” Other names simply added the fathjer’s name behind the given name, so that Martin the son of Berend was known as Martin Berendi. (The “-i” suffix was added by Latin priests. Sometimes this appears as “-y.”)

Paternal names were used in various countries, besides Germany. For instance, in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, “-son” or “-sen” was used to indicate “son of” while “-dottir” or “-datter” was used to indicate the “daughter of” a particular individual. Examples include Anderson ,Hansen, Sorensdatter, and Svensdottir.  In Poland and Slovakia, the suffix “-wicz” to indicate son while “-ovna” or “-ova” indicates daughter. The endings “-shy” and “-ski” were also used by Slavic people. English names are similarly constructed, using the “-son” suffix. Examples include: Richardson, Stephenson, Jackson, Wilson, Thompson, Benson, and Johnson. In Wales, sons took their father’s unaltered name as their surname or added “ap” (son of). Daughters used “-verch’ or “-ferch.” Examples include names such as David ap Rhys or Maredudd ferch Llewelyn.

Parish record

Eventually laws were passed that required permanent surnames. For instance, such laws were passed in the Schleswig-Holstein area of northern Germany in 1771, 1820, and 1822. These laws required that the surnames be passed through the male line. In England, Henry VIII (1491–1547) had already ordered that marital births be recorded under the surname of the father. Other countries followed suit. Most of the parish records (Catholic) that are available include surnames, though in some countries, such as Slovakia, evidence of the older naming practices can still be found in the earliest records. This is especially true in the case of females who are identified by their father’s last name which the “ova” suffix or alteration.

Tracking your family through their surnames can sometimes be challenging. In more recent centuries, it was not uncommon for families to alter or change their surnames.  Whether this was due to family disputes or a desire for a man to “strike out on his own,” sometimes a man decided to alter his last name in its spelling or structure. Hence Graver becomes Craver, and Wiener becomes Weiner; which are some examples from my own family. Careful analysis is required to sort out these families and track their movements. 

Hopefully this information will be of assistance to others who are researching their family’s origins.  While it has its challenges, genealogy is a rewarding pursuit and produces a legacy for future generations.