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I was surfing the internet trying to find information on my mom's maiden name, Kassmeier (German Catholic). I can trace my Hungarian (dad' side) and mom's mom's side (German Mennonites) back relatively far (the mennonites and some Hungarian nobilty to the 16th century). However, we know very little about the Kassmeier family.

We know the meanings of many of the surnames of these families. But we don't know the meaning of my grandpa's surname, Kassmeier. I know that Meier/Mayer is related to the Latin "Majorus" and meant a manager or steward in a feudal household, etc. But what does the prefix mean? Some suggestions have been KASS = cheese. But Germans I know say if this were true the A would be long and there would be only one S. We think it might have something to do with 'cash' or 'cache'. Could a KASSMEIER have been in charge of the purse (finances) of the fudal estate?

Thanks, C. Sedlak