German (Swiss) Submitted Surnames

ABEGGGerman, 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".

ABPLANALPGerman, German (Swiss)
Topographic name for someone living high on a mountainside, from German ab- "below", "off" + Planalp "high, flat mountain-meadow".

AERNIGerman (Swiss)
Variant spelling of Ärni.

ALLEMANNGerman (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]

ALLENBACHGerman, German (Swiss)
Habitational name from any of several places called Allenbach.

ALMENDINGERGerman, 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.

AMREINGerman (Swiss)
Topographic name from am ‘at’ + Rain ‘edge of plowed land’.

AMSLERAmerican, German (Swiss)
As a Swiss German surname it is from the Swiss place name Amslen.

AMSTUTZGerman (Swiss), German (Austrian)
Topographic name for someone living near or at the foot of a steep mountainside, German am Stutz ‘at the escarpment’.

ANDROSGerman (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.

ÄRNIGerman (Swiss)
From a much altered pet form of the personal name Arnold.

AUUpper German, Swiss, German (Swiss), German (Austrian)
South German, Swiss, and Austrian topographic name from dialect Au ‘water meadow’, ‘stream’ (see Aue).

AUTCzech, German (Swiss), Russian, Catalan
Means "Hard Worker" in Czech.... [more]

BEEREnglish, 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]

BERNGerman, 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.

BISCHOFFSHAUSENGerman, German (Austrian), German (Swiss)
Means "bishop's house" in German

BRINERGerman (Swiss)
Habitational name for someone from Brin in Grison canton (Graubünden) or from the Brin valley.

BUCHWALDERGerman, German (Swiss)
Buchwalder is a German Surname.

DEGRAFFENRIEDGerman, German (Swiss)
Derived from a place in Switzerland. ... [more]

DOSSGerman, German (Austrian), German (Swiss)
German: Habitational name for someone from Dosse in Altmark. Variant of Dose ... [more]

DUBACHGerman (Swiss)
A surname describing a person from the town of Tübach in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

EBERLEUpper German, German (Swiss)
From a diminutive of Eberhard.

ELSINGERGerman (Swiss)
Probably a derivative of Elsing.

ERMATINGERGerman (Swiss)
The surname Ermatinger derives from the village of Ermatingen on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance. It simply means "from Ermatingen".... [more]

ESSLow 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]

FORRERGerman (Swiss)
Variant of Furrer.

FRIEDMANUpper German (Modern), German (Swiss), Jewish
Respelling of South German and Swiss Friedmann. ... [more]

FRIEDMANNGerman, German (Swiss), Jewish
German and Swiss German from a derivative of Friedrich. ... [more]

FURRERGerman (Swiss)
Topographic name from the regional term furre ‘cleft in the ground’.

GANZGerman, 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'.

GASSERGerman (Swiss)
Occupational name for a goat herd from Middle High German geiz meaning "Goat" and (n)er an agent suffix.

GERTHGerman (Swiss)
From a reduced form of Gerhardt. Habitational name for someone from Gerthe near Bochum.

GERTSCHGerman (Swiss)
From a short form of any of the Germanic personal names formed with gēr meaning ‘spear’, ‘lance’.

GRAFGerman, German (Swiss)
Status name from Middle High German grave, grabe, which was used as a title denoting various more or less aristocratic dignitaries and officials. In later times it became established as a title of nobility equivalent to the Romance count... [more]

GRUNWALDGerman, 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]

GUBLERGerman (Swiss)
Means "Of the Mountains"... [more]

HAESSLYGerman (Swiss)
Variant of Hässli.

HÄSSLIGerman (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-).

KATHRINERGerman (Swiss, Rare)
From the given name Kathrin + er meaning "of, from."

KEELEnglish (Anglicized), English, Irish, German (Swiss), German (Anglicized)
English habitational name from Keele in Staffordshire, named from Old English cy ‘cows’ + hyll ‘hill’, or from East and West Keal in Lincolnshire, which are named from Old Norse kjolr ‘ridge’... [more]

KEELGerman (Swiss)
Swiss German variant of Kehl.

LANDISGerman, German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German nickname for a highwayman or for someone who lays waste to the land, from Middle High German landoese.

NEGLEYGerman (Swiss)
Altered spelling of Swiss German Nägele, Naegeli, or Nägeli, variants of Nagel.

NIGGGerman, German (Swiss)
From a short form of the personal name Niklaus, a German form of Nicholas.

OCHSNERGerman (Swiss)
Means "Oxen Herder" in Swiss. It is pronounced as OCKSNER, and it is just as popular in Switzerland as Smith is in the US.

OVERHOLSERGerman (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.

RAGATZGerman (Swiss)
Habitational name from Ragaz in Grison canton.

RAISCHGerman, 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]

RAMPGerman (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.

RÄUBERGerman, German (Swiss)
German, Swiss German: derogatory nickname, from Middle High German roubære ‘robber’, ‘bandit’, ‘highwayman’ (from roub, roup ‘booty’, ‘spoils’).

RENGELGerman (Swiss)
From a pet form of a Germanic personal name formed with rang "curved", "bending"; "slender".

REPASSGerman (Swiss)
An Americanization of the Swiss Rippas. The first recorded person with this surname was from Ziefen, Switzerland.

RIPPASGerman (Swiss)
The first recorded person with this surname was from Ziefen, Switzerland.

RITCHEnglish, German, German (Swiss)
1. English: variant spelling of Rich. ... [more]

ROHRBACHGerman, 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.

RUCHGerman (Swiss)
It was originally a nickname for a greedy person, from Middle High German ruoch ‘eager,’ ‘intent.’... [more]

RUESCHGerman (Swiss), Jewish
Swiss/German variant of Rusch. Meaning "shaggy," "bristly," "unkempt," or "quick."

RUTHEnglish, 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]

RYNEGerman (Swiss)
Respelling of Swiss German Rhyn, a topographic name for someone living on the Rhine river, Middle High German Rin.

SANDMEIERGerman, German (Swiss), German (Austrian)
From Middle High German sand combined with Meier, referring to a tenant farmer whose farm was on sandy soil.

SCHAFFNERGerman, German (Swiss)
German: occupational name for a steward or bailiff, variant of Schaffer.... [more]

SHAFFNERGerman, German (Swiss)
Americanized version of German occupational name for a steward or bailiff, variant of Schaffner and Schaffer.... [more]

STAUBGerman (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.

STOECKLINGerman, German (Swiss), German (Austrian), French
Unknown

THOMAGerman, German (Swiss)
German and Swiss German: variant of Thomas. Greek: genitive patronymic from Thomas. Genitive patronymics are particularly associated with Cyprus.

TREICHELGerman (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.

WELTYGerman (Swiss)
From a Swiss German diminutive of the German given name Walther. A literary bearer was the American writer Eudora Welty (1909-2001).

ZBÄRENGerman (Swiss)
Zbären means "Bear hunter".

ZEHRENGerman (Swiss)
From a prepositional phrase from Middle High German ze hērren, an occupational name for someone was in service of a lord.

ZUBERGerman, 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]