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The german Surname

german Name Meaning and History

  1. English: ethnic name from Old French germain ‘German’ (Latin Germanus). This sometimes denoted an actual immigrant from Germany, but was also used to refer to a person who had trade or other connections with German-speaking lands. The Latin word Germanus is of obscure and disputed origin; the most plausible of the etymologies that have been proposed is that the people were originally known as the ‘spear-men’, with Germanic ger, gar ‘spear’ as the first element.
  2. English (of Norman origin): from the Old French personal name Germain (see Germain).
  3. Americanized spelling of Spanish Germán or Hungarian Germán, cognates of 2.
  4. German: from the saint’s name German(us). See also Germann.
  5. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): Russianized variant of Hermann.
  6. Greek: reduced form of Germanos, a Greek personal name, bestowed in honor of saints of the Eastern Church distinct from St. Germain: in particular, St. Germanos in the 8th century, liturgical poet and patriarch of Constantinople. The Greek surname can also denote someone associated with Germany or someone with blond hair.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The german name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the german family name as far back in history as possible.

german Family Facts

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Distribution of german Families in the US in 1920
Number of german families
 149-296
 50-148		 1-49
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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More resources for your german family history

German message board


Threads: 236 - Messages: 567
ThreadAuthorReplies
British Links Gavin_German 0
German, Missouri A debhuffer 1
Sgt. Merlin German of Manhattan, N.Y., died April 11, 2008 RIP_08 0
Sylvester German of Barry County, Missouri jasher197 3
Marks lewismtroy 0
Moses German/Jarman sam97470_1 9
German family mm44bishop 0
Erastus GERMAN Marriage in Illinois BAMATTHEWS|MA783905 4
German Families of Ohio, Illinois and Missouri Dean 2
GERMAN Family Massacre JudyLock51 2
Viewing 1-10 of 236 |  Go to the full board

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