German Last Names

The concept of using last names started pretty late around the 10th century. Earlier people used just their first names to address each other. But problem arose when there were people who had the same names. In order to clear any confusion, people were referred to either by their profession or by their father's name or by their physical attributes. E.g. John the carpenter, or John, son of Derek and so on. Hence started the concept of using last name. This article deals only with some of the common German last names. If you are from Germany and would like to know how your family derived this name, then given below is a list which is going to help you in your research.

List of Last Names

There are some people in Germany whose last names are more popular than their first names. Some of the most common last names that one is sure to never forget are Graf, Einstein, Becker, Kahn, Klose, Ballack, Bach and so on. In Germany, last names or surnames are usually referred to as Nachname and each of them have been derived either from the person's profession or on the basis of the person's physical characteristics. Before we see some of the last names in Germany, let us see some of the facts about, which I am sure you will find interesting.

• Usually after marriage, the wife drops her maiden name and uses her husband's name. But, after 1990, a law was passed which said that the couple or rather the wife could keep her maiden name and not use the name of her husband.
• The German couple, if one of them decides to keep both the husband's as well as the wife's name, they could use both with a hyphen. That would be a double name or a Doppelname but only one person can have the double name.
• Children of parents carrying Doppelname, can only use either their father's last name (most common practice) or their mother's maiden name but not the double name.
• The couple could also have one name as their marriage name or Ehename and if they did so, they could either use the last name of the husband or the wife.

Different Last Names and Meanings

Last Names	English Meaning
Bauer	Farmer
Klein	Small
Becker	Baker
Schneider	Tailor
Fischer	Fisher
Schroeder	Carter
Schwarz	Black
Kreuger	Potter
Braun	Brown
Koenig	King
Fuchs	Fox
Weiss	White
Jung	Young
Kauffmann	Businessman
Keller	Cellar
Bach	Brook
Hahn	Hen or Rooster
Lehmann	Serf
Mayer/Meier	Dairyman
Hoffmann	Landed farmer
Hartmann	Strong or a courageous man
Engel	Angel
Eichmann	Oak man
Frankfurter	Someone who is from Frankfurt
Meller	Miller
Nadel	Needle
Reinhardt	Determined
Richter	Judge
Schiffer	Boatman
Schmitt/Schimidt	Smith
Schreiber	Writer
Schuhmacher	Shoemaker
Strauss	Bouquet
Unger	Hungarian
Vogel	Bird
Wagner	wagoner
Koehler	Charcoal maker
Herrmann	Warrior
Walter	ruler or leader in the army
Lange	Long
Zimmermann	Carpenter
Roth	Red
Rothschild	Red shield
Ritter	Knight
Pfeifer	Pepper
Ostermann	Eastern man
Neumann	New man
Nacht	Night
Kohl	Cabbage seller or grower
Kirsch	Cherry
Hirsch	Deer
Freud	Joy or happy
Brandt	Fire
Weber	Weaver

Classification of Names

As I have already mentioned that people were given surnames to avoid confusion among people having the same name. These surnames were derived from four main sources and each of these sources have been described below.

Geographical Locations: As the name suggests, some people were named on the basis of the place they came from; Peter von Berlin means Peter who came from Berlin, or Ralph Frankfurter or Ralph who was from Frankfurt.

Physical Features: Some people were also given surnames on the basis of their physical features like 'short' or 'tall' or 'fat' or 'small'. Such a person with brown hair was usually referred to as 'Braun' or a person who was short was referred to as 'Klein' and so on.

Profession: Last names were also given on the basis of the profession of the person. If a person was a baker by profession, then he was given the surname of Becker, or if the person was a tailor, then Schneider and so on.

First Name of Parents: Although giving surnames on the basis of this category was not common in Germany as in other parts of Europe, some people were referred to on the basis of their father or mother's name.

Thus, now you know some of the common German last names and you also know what they mean in English. Next time someone asks you what your last name means, and how it has been derived, you can easily tell them.