Esther Vanessa Van Homrigh Swift
Any clues about the full meaning of "Van Homrigh"? The surname behind the Vanessa name... (Thanks for any attempts) Bye.

PD: Does answers given eventually get into the database? 'Cause they should for the list of surnames treated in the forum outpass those of the database; I would say as a rough estimate...
vote up1vote down

Replies

Van Homrigh and variantsThis particular form is Dutch (the van is unmistakably Dutch). Other Dutch variants are Van Hommerig and Hommerig. But the surname has also a German root (and possibly all of them at the end are of German origin). These names are Hommerich, Hemmerich, Hummerich, Hümrich, et cetera.

The following links are in German, but I'll try to give you an adequate translation of the important parts of the text:

http://www.gfds.de/beratung2.html (takes a while to load and the appropiate part is a bit down...search for Hommerich and you'll find it)

Hummerich, Hummrich, Hümmerich and Hümrich are from the regions Mittelrhein and Westenwald (not sure if those are official, marked regions or just to give you an idea of the approximate area). The places in question are both called Hümmerich and they're to be found in:

1. bei Rengsdorf/Kreis Neuwied
2. Wüstung bei Marienhausen/Unterwesterwaldkreis)

Other places:
Homperich (bei Ratingen)
Hommerich (jeweils bei Hennef, Lindlar und Düsseldorf)
Hömerich (Berg westl. Gummersbach)

from the above places are names like Hommerich and Homerich.

there are also places in Germany called Hemmerich. i found a site about the history of one of them, it's here:
http://www.jgv-hemmerich.de/brauchtum/geschichtehemmerichs/geschichtehemmerich.htm

the contents draw the same conclusion as the previous link, but the previous link shows us how the path from Hohenberg to Hommerich:

[...Zur Bedeutung des Ortsnamens: Die Wüstung Hümmerich erscheint in urkundlichen Schreibungen als Hoenberg (1386), Hoemberg (1488) und Hommerich (1593). Aus der ältesten Form Hoenberg kann mit großer Sicherheit eine ursprüngliche Bezeichnung (am) hohen Berg erschlossen werden, eine Ortsbezeichnung, die im deutschen Sprachgebiet häufig nachzuweisen ist und zu zahlreichen heutigen Ortsnamen wie Hohenberg, Ho(h)berg, Homberg geführt hat.

... Load Full Message

vote up1vote down
Just speculating I supose it might be composed of the elements "home" and ric "power, ruler"... But not sure
vote up1vote down
I would agree. This would mean that in fact HOMRIGH is a variant of HEINRICH (Henry).

Andy ;—)
vote up1vote down