por In this list of german surnames most common, part of the culture and way of thinking of this society is revealed. Surnames derived from professions, those denoting personal characteristics and patronymics are of great importance.
The surname is the name with which a family is distinguished. In the German case, each individual can have only one last name, unlike the Spanish and Spanish-American way in which the paternal and maternal names are usually taken.
Parents in Germany can choose whether their child will use the mother’s or father’s surname at the time of legal registration, but the infant cannot use both.
Main German surnames
–Albrecht
It is a patronymic surname that comes from the name Albrecht, that is to say that the family was called by the proper name of one of their ancestors. its roots are edel (‘noble’) and beruhmt (‘famous’).
–Arnold
This is a patronymic, the proper name from which this German surname arises is made up of the words rna (‘eagle’) and wald (‘powerful’).
–Bauer
It is a German surname meaning ‘peasant’ or ‘farmer’. It is also common to find it combined with other words such as Schmidbauer (blacksmith-farmer) or Beckerbauer (baker-farmer) and this indicates that someone worked in both occupations.
–Baumann
Derived from the Middle High German word bumanwhose root coincides with bauer and means ‘farmer’ or ‘farmer’.
–Beck
Its origin comes from the old Norse bekkr which was the word for ‘stream’ and is common in northern Germany. It was also adopted by many Jewish families who give it the meaning of ‘martyr’.
–Becker
The most popular meaning of this surname is a derivation of the word used for ‘baker’, as in the case of Bäcker and Baecker.
–Berger
This surname comes from the German root for ‘mountain’. It is among the derivatives of place names, that is, it is given by the name of a geographical feature. Those with this last name were probably from a mountainous area.
-Bergmann
It has two meanings in German, the first being ‘man from the mountains’ and the second being ‘miner’.
–Böhm
This surname denotes origin, since its meaning is ‘bohemian’ in reference to a person who comes from Bohemia (territory that is currently part of the Czech Republic).
–Brandt
Formerly in the Germanic languages this word had a double meaning: ‘fire’ and ‘sword’.
–Braun
It is related to the nickname used to call people with brown hair. German immigrants who moved to the United States preferred to change the writing to «Brown,» which was less conspicuous.
–Busch
It is related to an old German word for bush and referred to a person who lived in a forest.
– Dietrich
This surname is a patronymic, so it comes from the name of a family ancestor. Dietrich is an old German male name meaning ‘ruler of the people’.
– Engel
The meaning of this German surname is ‘angel’.
– Fischer
It is the fourth most common in Germany and means ‘fisherman’. It is thought that its origin is in the Alsace area (located on the Franco-German border). In English it is often used as Fisher and other spellings include Visser, Fischler and Fischl.
–Frank
It comes from the name given to the Franks, who were the natives of the Lower Rhineland and east of the Rhine. In the language of the natives of this area frank either francis meant ‘free’.
–Franke
It is another form of the last name Frank, it also denotes that someone was frank.
–Friedrich
its roots are friduwhich means ‘peace’ and rîhhi which can be translated as ‘mighty’ or ‘prince’ in Old High German. This German surname is a patronymic, that is, it comes from the proper name Friedrich.
–Fuchs
It literally translates as ‘fox’. It began to be used as a nickname for those who had red hair or to highlight someone’s intelligence and later became a surname.
–Graph
It comes from a title from the Middle Ages that could be that of president of the king’s court or supervisor of the judicial powers, something that would be equivalent to the head of a village or an earl.
–Gross
Its meaning is ‘big’ or ‘great’. It is thought that this surname began to be used during the 15th century by members of the nobility. Within the German language the correct spelling is Gross.
– Gunther
This surname is a patronymic, since it comes from the homograph proper name (that is, it is written the same). The name Günther is composed of Nordic and Germanic roots, its meaning may be ‘battle army’.
–Haas
It is thought to come from the old word for hare (haso), which could indicate that this surname was assigned to a person with great agility or crazy behavior.
– Hann
It has two possible origins, one of them is ‘rooster’ and referred to the haughty personality of a person. Others believe that it arose as a contraction of the name Johannes.
–Hartman
The word hart in German it designates something strong, hard or brave, while mann means man. This surname spread outside the German borders and the way of writing it changed in countries where English is spoken, where it became Hartman.
–Heinrich
It is a patronymic and it is believed that its roots come from the word heim (formerly used for ‘home’) and rîhhi (meaning ‘mighty’ or ‘prince’).
– Hermann
The roots of this word come from hurt either hererelated to the army and military troops, which in union with the particle mann can mean ‘army man’. Other variants are Hermann and Herman, which are also used as a name.
–Hoffmann
This German surname arose as a derivative of the word with which some butlers or tenants of farms or estates were called and who served as their administrators.
–Hofmann
It comes from the same root as Hoffmann and also refers to property managers or butlers.
–Horn
This surname used to be given to people who lived in areas with rocky formations, or pointed mountains.
–Huber
comes from the word there wasa metric unit of land that in English was known as hibe and that equals 100 acres. Farmers who owned a there was of land became known as Huber, also Hueber, Humer, Haumer and Hoover.
–Jäger
It means ‘hunter’ in German and is one of the most popular surnames in this country. It is also sometimes written as Jager, Jääger, Jágr or Jaegr.
–Jung
This surname uses the German word for ‘young’. Normally the term differentiated a son from his father when they both had the same name. Others adopted it because they were young at the time the law mandated that everyone take a last name.
–Kaiser
This surname comes from the German title for emperors: kaiserwhich in turn derives from the Latin Caesar (Caesar in Spanish). Other spellings of this surname are Kayser, Kiser, Keizer, and Kyser.
–Keller
The surname has been related to the profession of winemaker in the Middle Ages, who was the person in charge of the wine cellars. You can also refer to winemakers, who are in charge of making wine.
–Klein
In German the adjective ‘small’ is Klein, so that this last name comes from a characteristic. It is common in Germany, Holland, South Africa, plus it is popular among the Jewish community.
– Koch
It comes from the German word to call cooks. It is the twelfth most frequent surname within Germany, it is also very popular in Austria and to a lesser extent in the United States.
– Kohler
The meaning of this surname is ‘carbonero’ (a person who burned wood to produce charcoal). This is one of the oldest and most respected professions in Germany, so much so that it is Intangible Cultural Heritage in that country.
–König
It comes from the German word for ‘king’ and it is thought that it began to be used as a surname in the Middle Ages. The forms Koenig, Konig, and Kœnig are also frequently used.
– Kramer
It comes from the Austrian word for ‘merchant’ or ‘merchant’. Those who sold junk items were also called that.
–Kraus
This German surname comes from a nickname for people with curly hair.
–Krause
It means the same as Kraus. Other variants of this German surname include Krauße, Krauss, Krauß, Kruse, and Cruse.
–Kruger
Also spelled Kruger and Krueger, it derives from the word to designate a tavern keeper or manager of an inn in some regions of Germany. This surname can also mean potter or ceramist in other areas.
– Kuhn
It originally appeared as a contraction of the German name Konrad or Conrad. This surname has the variants Kohn, Cohn or Cohen (preferred by the Ashkenazi Jewish community).
– Kuhn
It can be translated as ‘brave’; this surname is very popular in Germany and Austria.
–lang
The origin of this surname comes from the German word for ‘long’. It is thought that it was used to designate a large person. The most common form of this surname is Lange.
– Lange
It has the same meaning as Lang. Other spellings of this surname are Laing and Long.
–Lehmann
This surname dates back to the Middle Ages and originates from a landowner, because the word I have was related to the one who owned land and mann means man.
– Lorenz
It is a derivation of the Latin name Laurentius in its Germanized form, which is why it falls into the category of patronymic surnames. It can also be found as Lorentz, Lenz or Lorenzen.
– Ludwig
It is a patronymic surname of the homograph name. It is composed of the Germanic roots of the words ‘strong’ or ‘famous’ and ‘war’ or ‘battle’.
– Maier
This last name comes from the word used to call an official equivalent to a mayor. However, the most popular form is Meyer.
– Martin
It is a patronymic that derives from the Germanization of the Latin name Martinus, which means ‘son of Mars’. In Roman religion, Mars was the god of war, so this name could also be interpreted as ‘warrior’ or ‘son of war’.
–Mayer
Another way to refer to medieval officials who served as mayors.
–Meier
It also means ‘mayor’. Other variations that are related to Meier are Myer, Meyr, Mayr, and Mair. It is also popular in England, Holland and among Jews.
–Meyer
It comes from the same root as Meier so it also refers to a local ruler.
–Möller
It is a surname of German origin whose translation into Spanish is equivalent to ‘miller’.
– Muller
It also means ‘miller’, but this is the most accepted way of writing it and it is the most common surname in Germany, Switzerland and some departments of France. There are other ways to write it like Moller, Mueller, Muller and Miller.
–Neumann
It is one of the 20 most popular surnames in Germany and…