Date
Meaning & History
German: distinguishing name for a newly appointed steward or tenant farmer, or one who was a newcomer to an area, from Middle High German niuwe ‘new’ + meier ‘steward’, ‘tenant farmer’ ( see Meyer 1). In compound names -meyer and -man(n) were often treated as near synonyms and were used interchangeably, as for example Neumann, -meyer, Nettemann, -meyer, Schmittmann, -meyer.