THE MEANING OF LAST NAMES
by Walter Kömpel WKoempel@t-online.de
Am Küppel 14, D-97772 Wildflecken - Oberbach
Germany
MUELLER, ZIEGLER, HÜFNER, RÜTTIGER, KÖMPEL, HEROK, GRÖSCHL,
SEITNER, DREIFÜRST, LANG; KURZ, ARNSBERG, OBERBACH, and WERBERG
are among the thousands of names that can be found in Germany.
Many last names (surnames) were derived from a profession, such
as MÜLLER (Miller), SCHREINER (Carpenter), and BAUER (Farmer).
Others found their origin in names for a physical feature or
body shape such as LANG (Long), KURZ (Short), or MAGER (Skinny).
Some people are named for mountains near their hometown, such
as AUERSBERG, ARNSBERG, KREUZBERG, PILSTER, and BEILSTEIN.
A while ago I was looking in a German telephone directory CD for
small villages in my vicinity. Under "last name" I typed the
village or town name (ALTENFELD, BIRX, BREITENBACH, DETTER,
FRANKENHEIM, GERSFELD or GERSFELDER, HETTENHAUSEN, KOTHEN,
MOTTEN, MUENCHAU, PLATZ, RIEDENBERG or REIDENBERGER, ROSSBACH,
SANDBERG, SCHILDECKER, SCHMALNAUER, SCHMALWASSER, SPARBROD,
THALU, VOLKERS, WEISSENBACH, WERBERG or WERBERGER) and was
surprised to find out that a lot of people in Germany have last
names like villages, towns, and mountains in our area. A few
days later I searched a six-CD telephone directory of North
America and was surprised again to learn that many of these last
names also are found in the United States.
[I am looking for descendants of Johann Joseph, Conrad, and
Andreas KOEMPEL, who emigrated from Kothen to the United States
between 1832 and 1848. Walter Koempel WKoempel@t-online.de ]
[Editor's Note: To find other articles by Walter Koempel, click
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