by Andy ;—) (guest)
11/30/2004, 11:42 PM
You are right, REASER would be RIESER in German (probably not Reiser, which is pronounced Riser).
There is the surname RIESE in Germany, and it originally meant a tall person. But RIESER is a name of its own right. There are several possible derivations, so pick what you like:
1. From a place-name Ries (Bavaria, Austria) or Riesa (Saxony)
2. From an area called Ries (around the town of Nördlingen, O umlaut, roughly between München and Stuttgart). This one is interesting, as the name of the area is obviously taken from the "Raeti", a tribe living in the Alps in Roman times
3. From Middle High German "ris" (twig, bush, cf. German "Reisig", same word as English "reed" btw), > dweller by a bush?
4. From Middle High German "rise" (water ditch)
Andy ;—)