German (Swiss) Submitted Surnames

These names are a subset of German names used more often in Switzerland. See also about German names.
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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
ABEGG German, German (Swiss)
Topographic name for someone who lived near the corner of a mountain, from German ab meaning "off" and Egg, dialect form of Eck(e) meaning "promontory", "corner".
ABPLANALP German, German (Swiss)
Topographic name for someone living high on a mountainside, from German ab- "below", "off" + Planalp "high, flat mountain-meadow".
AERNI German (Swiss)
Variant spelling of Ärni.
ALLEMANN German (Swiss)
Allemann (also spelled Alleman, Allemand, Aléman, Allamont, Allemagne, Alemaye, Alemán, and Allamán) is a surname that can be found primarily in Switzerland deriving from the Latin surname, Alemannus, which refers to someone of Germanic descent, specifically from the Alamanni tribe... [more]
ALLENBACH German, German (Swiss)
Habitational name from any of several places called Allenbach.
ALMENDINGER German, German (Swiss)
Habitational name for someone from a place called Allmendingen, of which there are two examples in Switzerland, in Bern canton, and one in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
AMREIN German (Swiss)
Topographic name from am ‘at’ + Rain ‘edge of plowed land’.
AMSLER American, German (Swiss)
As a Swiss German surname it is from the Swiss place name Amslen.
AMSTUTZ German (Swiss), German (Austrian)
Topographic name for someone living near or at the foot of a steep mountainside, German am Stutz ‘at the escarpment’.
ANDROS German (Swiss), Hungarian
Derivative of the personal name Andreas. Perhaps a reduced form of Greek Andronikos, Andronidis, or some other similar surname, all patronymics from Andreas.
ÄRNI German (Swiss)
From a much altered pet form of the personal name Arnold.
AU Upper German, Swiss, German (Swiss), German (Austrian)
South German, Swiss, and Austrian topographic name from dialect Au ‘water meadow’, ‘stream’ (see Aue).
AUT Czech, German (Swiss), Russian, Catalan
Means "Hard Worker" in Czech.... [more]
BEER English, German, Dutch, German (Swiss)
Habitational name from any of the forty or so places in southwestern England called Beer(e) or Bear(e). Most of these derive their names from the West Saxon dative case, beara, of Old English bearu ‘grove’, ‘wood’ (the standard Old English dative bearwe being preserved in Barrow)... [more]
BERN German, Scandinavian, German (Swiss)
German and Scandinavian: from the personal name Berno, a pet form of Bernhard. In South German it comes from the habitational name from Bern, Switzerland, notably in the south; in other parts from the personal name Berno.
BICKEL German, German (Swiss), Jewish
German: from bickel ‘pickaxe’ or ‘chisel’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made pickaxes or worked with a pickaxe or for a stonemason. South German: from a pet form of Burkhart... [more]
BISCHOFFSHAUSEN German, German (Austrian), German (Swiss)
Means "bishop's house" in German
BRINER German (Swiss)
Habitational name for someone from Brin in Grison canton (Graubünden) or from the Brin valley.
BUCHWALDER German, German (Swiss)
Buchwalder is a German Surname.
DEGRAFFENRIED German, German (Swiss)
Derived from a place in Switzerland. ... [more]
DOSS German, German (Austrian), German (Swiss)
German: Habitational name for someone from Dosse in Altmark. Variant of Dose ... [more]
DUBACH German (Swiss)
A surname describing a person from the town of Tübach in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
ELSINGER German (Swiss)
Probably a derivative of Elsing.
ERMATINGER German (Swiss)
The surname Ermatinger derives from the village of Ermatingen on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance. It simply means "from Ermatingen".... [more]
ESS Low German, German (Swiss)
North German: topographic name for someone living on or owning land that was waterlogged or partly surrounded by water, from Middle Low German es ‘swamp’, ‘water’. ... [more]
FAHR German, German (Swiss)
A topographic name for someone who lived near a crossing point on a river, from Middle High German vare, meaning ferry.
FRIEDMAN Upper German (Modern), German (Swiss), Jewish
Respelling of South German and Swiss Friedmann. ... [more]
FRIEDMANN German, German (Swiss), Jewish
German and Swiss German from a derivative of Friedrich. ... [more]
FURRER German (Swiss)
Topographic name from the regional term furre ‘cleft in the ground’.
GANZ German, German (Swiss)
Variant of Gans 'goose'. German: from a short form of the Germanic personal name Ganso, a cognate of modern German ganz 'whole', 'all'.
GASSER German (Swiss)
Occupational name for a goat herd from Middle High German geiz meaning "Goat" and (n)er an agent suffix.
GERTH German (Swiss)
From a reduced form of Gerhardt. Habitational name for someone from Gerthe near Bochum.
GERTSCH German (Swiss)
From a short form of any of the Germanic personal names formed with gēr meaning ‘spear’, ‘lance’.
GOLDSCHMIED German (Swiss)
Swiss German form of Goldschmidt.
GRUNWALD German, German (Swiss), Jewish
German and Swiss German (Grünwald): habitational name from any of various places named Grün(e)wald, from Middle High German gruene ‘green’ + walt ‘wood’, ‘forest’. ... [more]
GUBLER German (Swiss)
Means "Of the Mountains"... [more]
GUTKNECHT German, German (Swiss)
Status name for a page of noble birth (Middle High German guot kneht).
HÄSSLI German (Swiss), French (Rare)
Swiss German diminutive form of Haas. This is a French surname via Alsace-Lorraine. A notable bearer is French footballer (soccer player) Eric Hassli (1981-).
KATHRINER German (Swiss, Rare)
From the given name Kathrin + er meaning "of, from."
KEEL German (Swiss)
Swiss German variant of Kehl.
KIENER German (Swiss)
Nickname derived from the dialect verb chienen 'to whimper'.
LANDIS German, German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German nickname for a highwayman or for someone who lays waste to the land, from Middle High German landoese.
LAUPER German (Swiss)
From the short form of a Germanic personal name composed of the elements liut 'people', 'tribe' + berht 'famous'. topographic name for someone who lived at a Lauben, a row of houses and stores with an arcade in front, from Middle High German loube 'arbor', 'bower', 'gallery'.
LEUENBERGER German (Swiss)
Means "one who came from Löwenberg" in German.
NEFF German, German (Swiss)
From Middle High German neve 'nephew', hence probably a distinguishing name for a close relation or familiar of a prominent personage.
NEGLEY German (Swiss)
Altered spelling of Swiss German Nägele, Naegeli, or Nägeli, variants of Nagel.
NIGG German, German (Swiss)
From a short form of the personal name Niklaus, a German form of Nicholas.
OCHSNER German (Swiss)
Means "oxen herder" in Swiss, from Middle High German ohse "ox".
OVERHOLSER German (Swiss)
The Oberholtzer family originated in the Swiss village of Oberholtz, south of Zurich, before the 15th century. However, in 1661, one family left Switzerland for the Palatinate in Germany.
RAGATZ German (Swiss)
Habitational name from Ragaz in Grison canton.
RAISCH German, German (Swiss)
From Middle High German rīsch, rūsch ‘reed’, ‘rush’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near a reed bed, or perhaps a metonymic occupational name for someone who used or harvested reeds... [more]
RAMP German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German: variant of Rampf, from Middle High German ramft, ranft ‘edge’, ‘wall’, ‘crust (of bread)’; applied as a topographic name for someone who lived at the limit or outer edge of some feature, for example a field, or possibly, in the sense ‘crust’, a nickname for a poor person.
RÄUBER German, German (Swiss)
German, Swiss German: derogatory nickname, from Middle High German roubære ‘robber’, ‘bandit’, ‘highwayman’ (from roub, roup ‘booty’, ‘spoils’).
RENGEL German (Swiss)
From a pet form of a Germanic personal name formed with rang "curved", "bending"; "slender".
REPASS German (Swiss)
An Americanization of the Swiss Rippas. The first recorded person with this surname was from Ziefen, Switzerland.
RIPPAS German (Swiss)
The first recorded person with this surname was from Ziefen, Switzerland.
RITCH English, German, German (Swiss)
1. English: variant spelling of Rich. ... [more]
ROHRBACH German, German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German: habitational name from any of numerous places called Rohrbach (‘reed brook’ or ‘channel brook’) in many parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It is a common surname in Pennsylvania.
ROOS Estonian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, German (Swiss), Low German
Means "rose" in Estonian and Dutch. Swedish and Danish variant of Ros, also meaning "rose". This could be a locational name for someone living near roses, an occupational name for someone who grew roses, or a nickname for someone with reddish skin.
RUCH German (Swiss)
It was originally a nickname for a greedy person, from Middle High German ruoch ‘eager,’ ‘intent.’... [more]
RUESCH German (Swiss), Jewish
Swiss/German variant of Rusch. Meaning "shaggy," "bristly," "unkempt," or "quick."
RUTH English, German (Swiss)
English: from Middle English reuthe ‘pity’ (a derivative of rewen to pity, Old English hreowan) nickname for a charitable person or for a pitiable one. Not related to the given name in this case.... [more]
RYNE German (Swiss)
Respelling of Swiss German Rhyn, a topographic name for someone living on the Rhine river, Middle High German Rin.
SANDMEIER German, German (Swiss), German (Austrian)
From Middle High German sand combined with Meier, referring to a tenant farmer whose farm was on sandy soil.
SCHAFFNER German, Jewish, German (Swiss)
German: occupational name for a steward or bailiff, variant of Schaffer.
SHAFFNER German, German (Swiss)
Americanized version of German occupational name for a steward or bailiff, variant of Schaffner and Schaffer.... [more]
STAUB German (Swiss), German, Jewish
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) occupational nickname for a miller, from Middle High German stoup, German Staub ‘dust’. The Jewish surname may also be ornamental.
THOMA German, German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German: variant of Thomas. Greek: genitive patronymic from Thomas. Genitive patronymics are particularly associated with Cyprus.
TREICHEL German (Swiss)
Swiss German: from a word meaning ‘cow bell’, presumably a nickname for a cowherd or farmer, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made cow bells.
VON BISCHOFFSHAUSEN German, German (Austrian), German (Swiss)
Variant spelling of Bischoffshausen.
WELTY German (Swiss)
From a Swiss German diminutive of the German given name Walther. A literary bearer was the American writer Eudora Welty (1909-2001).
ZBÄREN German (Swiss)
Zbären means "Bear hunter".
ZEHREN German (Swiss)
From a prepositional phrase from Middle High German ze hērren, an occupational name for someone was in service of a lord.
ZUBER German, German (Swiss)
German: Metonymic occupational name for a cooper or tubmaker, from Middle High German zuber ‘(two-handled) tub’, or a habitational name from a house distinguished by the sign of a tub. ... [more]