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First, it could be Irish. A County Derry clan named O Diamain became O'Deeman in English, then settled for Diamond.
Diamond is better known though as a Jewish surname of Central and Eastern European origin. Many Jews did not have surnames until the 19th century. In the Prussian territories surnames were imposed on the Kaiser's Jewish subjects. Some anti-semitic officials handed out very offensive names; others, more enterprising, started with an unacceptable name which they would change for a price. Apparently the names of precious stones were the most highly prized - Diamant, Rubinstein, Garfunkel, etc.
Jewish surnames - a fascinating subject.
Diamond is better known though as a Jewish surname of Central and Eastern European origin. Many Jews did not have surnames until the 19th century. In the Prussian territories surnames were imposed on the Kaiser's Jewish subjects. Some anti-semitic officials handed out very offensive names; others, more enterprising, started with an unacceptable name which they would change for a price. Apparently the names of precious stones were the most highly prized - Diamant, Rubinstein, Garfunkel, etc.
Jewish surnames - a fascinating subject.
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A little bit more on this site ...
http://www.ancestry.com/search/SurnamePage.aspx?sourcecode=13304&html=b&fn=&ln=Diamond&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
http://www.ancestry.com/search/SurnamePage.aspx?sourcecode=13304&html=b&fn=&ln=Diamond&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
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Interesting and informative, I hadn't thought that Diaman might be a variant of Diarmaid.
Apologies for the anachronism in my last posting. The King of Prussia did not adopt the title "Kaiser" until 1871, long after the Jews of Prussia got their surnames. Which brings a thought to mind: if Germany wins the World cup will Juergen Klinsmann succeed Franz Beckenbauer as Kaiser?
Apologies for the anachronism in my last posting. The King of Prussia did not adopt the title "Kaiser" until 1871, long after the Jews of Prussia got their surnames. Which brings a thought to mind: if Germany wins the World cup will Juergen Klinsmann succeed Franz Beckenbauer as Kaiser?
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The Kaiser (off topic)
No, Jürgen Klinsmann won't succeed Franz Beckenbauer as Kaiser. Franz didn't obtain this title as a football teacher nor as a businessman, but as an active player.
The story has it that sometime in the late sixties Beckenbauer was in Wien for a football match, and a picture was taken of him next to a bust of the former Austrian Kaiser Franz I. In the newspaper Beckenbauer was then called the "Fußball-Kaiser".
But according to an article in the "Welt am Sonntag" (Patrick Krull: Des Kaisers falscher Schluß,In: Welt am Sonntag, 11. September 2005) this is but legend and the real story goes like this:
On July 14th 1969 Beckenbauer fouled Reinhard Libuda in the German Cup final. The crowd was furious, because Libuda was their "King of Westphalia". Beckenbauer took the ball to the side of the Schalke 04 fans and balanced it on his foot for 30 seconds. Everybody was impressed by his skills and had to admit he was even better than Libuda. So he had to be the "Kaiser".
(This is taken from wikipedia Deutsch: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Beckenbauer)
No, Jürgen Klinsmann won't succeed Franz Beckenbauer as Kaiser. Franz didn't obtain this title as a football teacher nor as a businessman, but as an active player.
The story has it that sometime in the late sixties Beckenbauer was in Wien for a football match, and a picture was taken of him next to a bust of the former Austrian Kaiser Franz I. In the newspaper Beckenbauer was then called the "Fußball-Kaiser".
But according to an article in the "Welt am Sonntag" (Patrick Krull: Des Kaisers falscher Schluß,In: Welt am Sonntag, 11. September 2005) this is but legend and the real story goes like this:
On July 14th 1969 Beckenbauer fouled Reinhard Libuda in the German Cup final. The crowd was furious, because Libuda was their "King of Westphalia". Beckenbauer took the ball to the side of the Schalke 04 fans and balanced it on his foot for 30 seconds. Everybody was impressed by his skills and had to admit he was even better than Libuda. So he had to be the "Kaiser".
(This is taken from wikipedia Deutsch: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Beckenbauer)
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