Find out What That German Last Name Means

If you wonder what your German last name means in English, here's a comprehensive guide.

For each Germanic surname in this glossary, we have provided the English meaning, which may or may not be a surname in English. This is not a list of equivalent names, but rather a sampling of English translations or meanings of German names. In many cases, there may be several possible origins or translations for a surname. The translation shown for a surname may not be the only possibility. Some names are derived from Old German and may have a different meaning from that in modern German.

Abbreviations: OHG (Old High German, Althochdeutsch)

Germanic Last Names (A-K)

Nachname Last Name	English Meaning
Aachen/Achen	Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle (German city)
Abend/Abendroth	evening/dusk
Abt	abbott
Ackerman(n)	farmer
Adler	eagle
Amsel	blackbird
Austerlitz	from the town and battle (1805)
Bach	brook
Bachmeier	farmer by the brook
Bader/Baader	bath, spa keeper
Baecker/Becker	baker
Baer/Bar	bear
Barth	beard
Bauer	farmer, peasant
Baum	tree
Baumgaertner/Baumgartner Bumgarner	tree nursery man
Bayer/Baier/Beyer	Bavarian
Beckenbauer	basin/bowl maker
Beich/Beike	slope (OHG)
Berg	mountain
Bergmann	miner
Bieber	beaver (industrious)
Biermann	beer man (brewer)
Blau	blue
Boehm/Bohm	of Bohemia
Brandt	fire, land cleared by fire
Brauer	brewer
Braun	brown
Bürger/Burger	townsman, citizen
Busch/Bosch	bush
Daecher/Decker	roofer, tyler
Diederich/Dietrich	skeleton key; ruler (OHG)
Drechsler/Dreher	turner
Dresdner/Dresner	of Dresden
Drescher	thresher
Duerr/Durr	dry, thin, drought
Ebersbach/Ebersbacher	boar brook
Eberhardt/Eberhart	strong as a boar
Eichel	acorn, oak
Eichelberger	of the oak hill
Eichmann	oak man
Ehrlichmann	honest man
Eiffel	German mountain range
Eisenberg	iron mountain
Eisenhauer (Eisenhower)	iron hewer, miner
Egger / Eggers	harrow, plow man
Engel	angel
Faber	smith (Latin)
Faerber/Farber	dyer
Fassbinder	cooper
Faust	fist
Feierabend	time off, non-work hours
Fenstermacher	window maker
Fiedler	fiddler
Fink/Finkel	finch
Fischer/Fisher	fisher, fisherman
Fleischer	butcher
Foerster	forester
Frankfurter	of Frankfurt
Frei/Frey	free (man)
Freitag/Freytag	Friday
Freud	joy
Fried	peace
Friedmann/Friedman	peace man, peacemaker
Frueh/Freeh	early (riser)
Fruehauf	up early
Fuchs	fox
Fuerst/Furst	prince
Fuhrmann	carter, driver
Gaertner/Gärtner	gardener
Gerber	tanner
Gerste/Gersten	barley
Gloeckner/Glockner	bell man
Goldschmidt	gold smith
Gottlieb	God's love
Gottschalk	God's servant
Gruenewald/Grunewald/Grunwald	green forest
Hahn	rooster
Herrmann/Herman	warrior, soldier
Hertz/Herz	heart
Hertzog/Herzog	duke
Himmel (-reich)	heaven
Hirsch	buck, deer
Hoch	high, tall
Hoffmann/Hofmann	landed farmer
Holtzmann/Holzman	woodsman
Hueber/Huber/Hoover	land owner
Jaeger/Jager	hunter, huntsman
Jung	young
Junker	nobleman, squire
Kaiser	emperor
Kalb	calf
Kaestner/Kastner	cabinet maker
Kappel	chapel
Kaufmann	merchant
Keller	cellar
Kirsch	cherry
Klein	short, small
Klug/Kluge	smart, clever
Koch	cook
Kohl/Cole	cabbage (seller, grower of cabbage)
Kohler/Koehler	charcoal-maker
Koenig/Konig	king
Krause	curly haired
Krueger/Kruger	potter, maker of jugs
Kuefer	cooper
Kuester/Kuster	sexton
Kuhn/Kunze	councilman; brave, smart
Koertig/Kortig	from Konrad (brave adviser)

Germanic Last Names (L-Z)

Lang	long
Lehmann/Lemann	serf, fief man
Lehrer	teacher
Loewe/Lowe	lion
Luft	air
Mahler/Mehler	grinder, miller
Maier/Meier/Meyer	dairy farmer; landowner
Mauer/Maur	wall
Maurer	mason
Meister	master
Metzger	butcher
Meier/Meyer/Maier	dairy farmer; landowner
Mueller/Muller	miller
Moench/Muench	monk
Nacht	night
Nadel	needle
Nagel	nail
Naumann/Neumann	new man
Neudorf/Neustadt	new town (Newton)
Nussbaum	nut tree
Oster	east, Easter
Osterhagen	east grove, hedge
Ostermann	eastern man
Pabst/Papst	pope
Pfaff	cleric, parson
Pfeffer	pepper
Pfeifer/Pfeiffer	piper
Probst/Propst	provost
Reinhard(t)	determined
Reiniger	cleaner, cleanser, purifier
Richter	judge
Ritter	knight
Roth	red
Rothschild	red shield
Rothstein	red stone
Saenger/Sanger	singer
Sankt	saint
Schäfer/Schaefer	shepherd
Scherer	shearer, barber
Schiffer	boatman
Schmidt/Schmitt	smith
Schneider	tailor
Scholz/Schulze	mayor
Schreiber	scribe, scribner, writer
Schreiner	joiner, cabinet maker
Schroeder/Schroder	drayman, cart pusher (Carter)
Schuhmacher	shoemaker
Schultheiss/Schultz	debt broker; mayor
Schulz/Schulze/Scholz	mayor
Schuster/Shuster	cobbler, shoemaker
Schwab	Swabian, from Swabia
Schwartz/Schwarz	black
Schweitzer/Schweizer	Swiss; dairy man
Seiler	roper
Sommer	summer
Strauss	bouquet
Thalberg	valley (and) mountain
Theiss/Theissen	form of Matthias
Traugott	trust in God
Trommler	drummer
Unger	Hungarian
Urner	of Uri (Swiss canton)
Vogel	bird
Vogler	fowler, bird man
Vogt	steward
von	of (indicates nobility)
Waechter	warden, watchman
Wagner	wagoner, wainwright
Wannemaker	basket maker
Weber	weaver
Wechsler/Wexler	money changer
Weiss/Weisz	white/wheat
Weissmuller	wheat miller
Werfel/Wurfel	die (dice), cube
Winkel	corner, angle
Wirth/Wirtz	innkeeper, landlord
Wolf/Wulf	wolf
Wurfel/Werfel	die (dice), cube
Ziegler	brick or tilemaker
Zimmer	room; short for "carpenter" (below)
Zimmermann/Zimmerman	carpenter
Zweig	twig, branch

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Flippo, Hyde. "German Last Names and Their English Meanings." ThoughtCo, Aug. 29, 2020, thoughtco.com/german-last-names-and-english-meanings-4066939. Flippo, Hyde. (2020, August 29). German Last Names and Their English Meanings. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-last-names-and-english-meanings-4066939 Flippo, Hyde. "German Last Names and Their English Meanings." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/german-last-names-and-english-meanings-4066939 (accessed June 5, 2023).