AhlschlägerGerman The Ahlschlager family name was found in the USA, the UK, and Canada between 1880 and 1920. The most Ahlschlager families were found in the USA in 1920. In 1880 there were 6 Ahlschlager families living in Iowa... [more]
AllgeierGerman The harried officials at Ellis Island began to assign surnames based upon the pronunciation of the name by the immigrant, rather than attempting to ferret out the actual spelling. ... [more]
AppelGerman, Dutch From the personal name Appel, a pet form of Apprecht (common especially in Thuringia and Franconia), itself a variant of Albrecht... [more]
BaackGerman, North Frisian Either from a reduced form of the Germanic personal name Baldeke (a short form of any of the compound names with the first element bald "bold, brave ", for example Baldewin), or from Middle Low German baec, bake "pork, bacon", hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher or pig farmer.
BadeGerman From a short form of a Germanic personal name containing the element badu "strife, battle".
BeckemeyerGerman Beckemeyer is a surname of German origin. The name likely traces back to a place named Beckum, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The "-eyer" suffix could potentially mean "from" or "of" in this context, so " Beckemeyer " could translate to "from Beckum".
BedsaulGerman Americanized form of the German surname Petzold, which comes from a Slavic pet form of the name Peter.
BeerGerman, Dutch From Middle Low German bare, Middle Dutch bere "bear". Given as a nickname to someone who was thought to resemble a bear, a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear, or a habitational name for someone who lived near a sign depicting a bear... [more]
BehnGerman From the German male personal name Behn, a shortened form of Bernhard. A famous bearer was the English novelist and dramatist Aphra Behn (1640-1689).
BeiningGerman This famous surname, one of the earliest recorded in history, and recorded in over two hundred spellings from Benedicte, Benech and Bennet, to Banish, Beinosovitch and Vedyasov, derives from the Roman personal name "Benedictus", meaning blessed.
BlasiusGerman, French From the Latin personal name Blasius. This was a Roman family name, originating as a byname for someone with some defect, either of speech or gait, from Latin blaesus "stammering, lisping", itself from Ancient Greek βλαισός (blaisos) "bent, crooked; bow-legged".
BleibaumGerman "Lead tree" possibly changed at Ellis Island from Blumenbaum meaning "flowering tree"
BlessingGerman, English Either a German patronymic from a variant of the personal name Blasius or a nickname for a bald person from Middle High German blas "bald bare"... [more]
BodeGerman, Dutch, English, Danish Means "messenger, deliverer, herald; prophet, omen", ultimately from Old Germanic budą. This can be an occupational name, or a patronymic derived from a given name containing the element (see Bothe).
BodenGerman, Low German Patronymic from the personal name Bode or a topographic name for someone living in a valley bottom or the low-lying area of a field. From Middle High German boden "ground, bottom".
BodinGerman (Rare) Likely derived from various Germanic personal names containing the name element Bod meaning "messenger". Another theory is that the name could be derived from any of the several places named Boddin in Germany.
BollingEnglish, German nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling 'pollard', or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling 'excessive drinking'. German (Bölling): from a personal name Baldwin
BookmanGerman (East Prussian) Bookman, as a surname, derives from East Purssian origin. It is the American version of “Buchmann” with “Buch” meaning book in German, and “Mann” meaning man, creating the Americanized German surname Bookman.
BootDutch, German Patronymic form of Bode, derived from either Old High German boto "messenger, envoy" or the related bot "command, order".
BrockmanGerman German in origin, in heraldry a "brock" is represented by a badger. It could mean wet/water and man. It also has been said to mean broker.
CabellCatalan, English, German As a Catalan name, a nickname for "bald" from the Spanish word cabello. The English name, found primarily in Norfolk and Devon, is occupational for a "maker or seller of nautical rope" that comes from a Norman French word... [more]
ChristGerman, Dutch Either from a short form of the personal name Christian, or from a nickname meaning "the Christian", both from Latin Christ (see Christos 1).
DangersGerman Patronymic from the personal name Anger. Habitational name for someone from the city of Angers.
DankworthGerman (Anglicized) Formed from the German forename Tancred, which mutated to a hard D in English, combined with Old English Worth "a farmstead."
DanzGerman Derived from a given name, a short form of the name Tandulf, the origins of which are uncertain. (In some cases, however, this surname may have originated as a nickname denoting a person who liked to dance, from the Middle High German word tanz, danz "dance".)
DeetzGerman (Americanized), German Either an Americanized form of German Dietz or a North German surname which is ultimately derived from the same source (from an old personal name formed with Old High German diota "people, nation")... [more]
DegenGerman, Swiss Means "rapier, small sword, dagger" in German, an occupational name for someone who made rapiers. Alternately, it could be derived from a given name containing Old High German degan "soldier, warrior", such as Degenhard or Herdegen.
DielmannGerman (Modern) It was once spelled as "Dielhmann" and sometimes with one "n". The meaning is unknown, but when I used Google's translator "dielh" means "the" and "mann" was "man".
DieselGerman From the pet form of Matthias or from any Germanic compound name beginning with diota meaning "people"
EhlertGerman From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements agil "edge", "point (of a sword)" + hard "brave", "hardy", "strong" or ward "guard".
EhrhardtGerman From a Germanic personal name composed of Old High German ēra, meaning ‘honor’, and hard, meaning ‘brave’, ‘hardy’, or ‘strong’.
EhrmantrautGerman A Latinized joining of the German words irmin(world, all-encompassing) and trud(strength)
EmerinGerman (Portuguese-style) Brazilian adaptation of the German surname Emmerich; altered for easier comprehension by the Portuguese-speaking population of Brazil.
ErwinEnglish, German, Irish, Scottish From the given name Erwin. From the Middle English personal name EverwinErwin perhaps from Old English Eoforwine (eofor "boar" and wine "friend") but mostly from an Old French form of the cognate ancient Germanic name Everwin or from a different ancient Germanic name Herewin with loss of initial H- (first element hariheri "army")... [more]
EsauWelsh, German From the Biblical personal name Esau, meaning ‘hairy’ in Hebrew (Genesis 25:25).
FeigeGerman Either a topographic name for someone who lived by a fig tree or metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of figs from Middle High German vīge (Old High German figa from Latin ficus)... [more]
FeuerschütteGerman (Modern) comes from the combination of the words "Feuer" and "Schütte", which form the word "flamethrower". Surname of a Brazilian Celebrity with German Origin "Lucas Feuerschütte"
FoltzGerman It is from Germany and it is based on the personal name Volz, which was popular in former times. It means son or descendant of a Volz or Folz
FridmanYiddish, German (Anglicized) Derived from the Yiddish "Frid" (see fridu) meaning "peace," combined with "man" meaning "man" or "person." Originally derived from a vernacular form of Shalom, it is also an anglicized spelling of the German name Friedmann.