The geist Surname
geist Name Meaning and History
- German: metonymic occupational name for a goatherd or nickname for a stubborn person, from Middle High German geiz ‘goat’.
- German: habitational name for someone who lived in a house marked by the sign of the Holy Spirit (normally depicted as a dove), from Middle High German geist ‘spirit’. Both Geist and Heilgeist occur as house signs in Frankfurt am Main in the mid–14th century.
- North German: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of barren sandy soil, Middle Low German gest.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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