By Any Other Name

By Any Other Name

Over the past 7 months or so, mostly while wandering through Germany, I have been ruminating on the similarity of last names, particularly between German and English names – particularly English surnames in the US.

Surnames, relatively speaking, are somewhat new.  They are much older in Asia, particularly China (where the surname is the first name).  Perhaps four or five thousand years ago they began attaching a maternal name in front of the personal name.  Marriage between people with the same matrimonial family name was strongly discouraged, sometimes outlawed.  Oddly, there seems to have been no concern with paternal lines, at least via naming.  Well, one always knows who the mother is; not always with the father.

Romans often had three names as well.  Gaius Julius Caesar, for example.  His given name Gaius, followed by the family name, Julius, and a sort of nickname, Caesar.  He did not acquire this because of his caesarean delivery; it was an old family name often appearing as the final nickname that would often be used to address someone personally. Russians are fond of nicknames as well, often formed from the given personal name.

Surnames came much later to Europe, starting in the late first millennium, progressing through nearly all regions by the mid-second millennium. One supposes it was necessary for censuses and taxation, property records, criminal records, debt records, etc.   In a region with far fewer first names than today, and with economies growing quickly and more interconnected, it could be quite a task to keep track of who owed what to whom with surnames (and middle names too)

In the Netherlands they didn’t fully arrive until 1811-14 after Napoleon Bonaparte decided to take personal control over the region.  He had taken it in 1806, and given the duty of ruling to his son, Louis; his heir did not meet his father’s expectations. The Corsican soon decreed that everyone take a surname. He was a man of order, if nothing else.

Many surnames were quite often based on where people lived, nearby topographic features, or – our concern here – their profession.   This seems to be most common among Germanic peoples, including the English.

Let’s start with a recently newsworthy name: the Wagner Group.  Over the past few years, few have not heard of the Russian mercenary army that goes by the name Wagner Group.  ^[1]

Curious, because Wagner (“vag-nur”) is a well-known German surname, for instance the famous German composer, Richard Wagner (all I can think of now is Ride of the Valkyries; “Ritt der Walküren“ — or “Walkürenritt .”  This name, Wagner, was the Nom de Guerre, of an early Wagner Group leader and co-founder, Dmitri Utkin, who was quite a fan of all things Nazi.

To clear up one thing, it is properly pronounced “Vag-nur”. It derives from the German name, and neither the Russian nor the German language has the “W” sound.  They say it with an English sounding “V.”

The name Wagner is also a profession. In English it would be “wagoner,” a person who drives a wagon.  Or, secondarily, a person skilled in making or repairing such things. (More often a Cartwright, see below)

Many surnames in both US English and German are similar in at least this regard: they tell us the profession of an ancestor.  Many names ending in -er and -man (and even -mann) fit this category. ^[2} The suffix -er can also be someone or something from a place.  [“Dollar” traces back to Thaler (or Taler) … some thing from the “valley.”  In this case a special coin minted in the St Joachim Valley.]

While my mind pondered this, I made a list of several dozen, eventually jotting down most (that I could remember).  We’ll start with the good old Butcher, Baker and Candlestick maker (last one is “Chandler” in English). Then proceed alphabetically where practicable.

They are listed below in both English and German. I hope I can remember all the names I thought of.  Most follow the -er, -man and -mann profession rule stated above.  I’m sure this list is not complete and contains errors.  Comments are welcome in that regard, as always.

English	German	Discussion
Butcher	Metzger
Baker, Becker	Bäcker, sometimes Pfister in south Germany.	This also gives the English “Becker”, which is how Bäcker is pronounced
Chandler	(no good equivalent)	Candlestick maker.
Baxter	(Bäckerin, not a surname, just translated)	Baxter is the feminine version of Baker
	Bauman, Baumann	Commonly a fellow peasant, or fellow neighbor, especially Ashkenazi Jews, literally one who builds
	Brenner	A distiller; verb brennen is to burn
Brewer, Brewster	Brauer	Brewer of beer or ale.  Note the -ster denoting a female of same profession.
Carpenter	Zimmerman, Zimmermann, Schreiner	A z-man typically constructs large wooden items (up to house-sized), a Schreiner typically smaller, from toys to cabinets. On location I’ve seen some overlap, at least by my novice interpretation.
Cartwright, Carter	Wagenbauer (rare)	Skilled at making and repairing Carts, or Wagons. More common: Wagner.
Clerk, Clarke	Schreiber	Someone who creates and tracks written records (Schreiber – one who writes)
Cole, Coleman	Kohl, Köhler	One who works with coal or charcoal, or one who makes charcoal
Collier (see Cole, Kohl)		Similar to above
Cook	Koch
Cooper	Küfer	One who makes barrels, casks, storage vessels, etc
Dexter, Dyer	Farber (occasionally Färber)	One who dyes, particularly cloth.  Note:  -xter is feminine Dyer
Farmer	Bauer	Bauer is more commonly a farmer, could also be one who builds, see Bauman. In Afrikaans, it’s Boer; hence Boer War was a farmers’ and peasants’ rebellion
Ferrier		Black smith, esp w.r.t. shoer of horses
Fleischman	Fleischman (or -nn)	One who works with meat, esp. a butcher
Fletcher	(could be Fulcher, but that’s rather archaic)	Maker of arrows, an arrow smith
Fowler	Vogler	One who hunts or catches birds
Fisher	Fischer	Self evident
Gardener, Gardner	Gartner	Self evident
Hoffman	Hofman, Hoffer	Literally one who works in the yard, or enclosed area, but usually courtyard.  So, it could also be a courtier.
Woodman	Holzman	One who chops or sells wood.  Could be others in the lumber industry
Hunter	Jäger	Also, Jager, Jarger, Yarger in US
Judge	Richter
	Kaufman	A merchant. Literally: one who buys
	Keller	From Keller: basement (cognate cellar), Trusted steward of provisions, usually of significance, e.g.  nobles, monasteries
	Kellner (var. of Keller)	Or Tavern Keeper, wine server (from cellar), Waiter
King	König	Also, Konig, Koenig, similar to Kaiser (emperor)
	Krüger, Kruger, Krueger	A Krug is mostly used as a name for a large beer mug. A Krüger is a barkeeper – like my great-grandfather Frederich (Fritz) Vollmer, from Würtemburg
Potter	Töpfer	Maker of pots, usually earthenware or ceramic. Topf means pot, or vessel
Teacher (uncommon)	Lehrer
Mason	Maurer, Mauer	One who builds stone walls or buildings
Mayor	Meyer, Meier, Maier	Generic municipal officer.  Could be mayor, bailiff, or steward. Historically Mayor/Meier is more appropriate (as we see from the obvious cognate). When I was a kid Milwaukee had a mayor named Meier.  Mayor Maier.
Miller	Müller	A mill is a place where work gets done (windmill, sawmill, grist mill).  A person who works in such a place. Also Mueller in US.  From Mühl, a mill.
Miner	Bergman (-nn)	Although Berg typically means mountain, it can also be a mine in some contexts
Priest	Best as Pfarrer, Pfarr; although Priester is a direct translation	Pfarr is parish, Pfarrer is parish priest or minister
Sawyer	Sager, Säger	Saws timber
	Schumacher, Schuster, Schuhman, Schuhmann	Shoemaker, cobbler
Shepard, Shepardson	Schäfer	And variants: Shaver, Schafer, Schafer, Schaefer: a shepard
Smith	Schmidt	A craftsman, usually metal – note does not end in -er or -man
	Steiger	One who climbs a path, often steep and/or narrow.  Or lives near one.  Rod Steiger
Tanner	Gerber
Tailor, Tailer, Taylor	Schneider	Schneider is one who cuts. Here, cloth.  Also variants like Snyder, Snider in US English names
Thatcher		Some who made/repaired straw roofs, thatch
Thrasher, Thresher	Drescher	Had a Thrasher teammate on my Senior Babe Ruth baseball team.  Grain processing.
Trader	Handler	Merchant, trader.  Handler has other meanings; I like this most.  Generically: one who gets things done
Weaver, Webster	Weber	Also Webber, -ster is feminine ending
Wine < ?, not common at all> In English the name Wine comes from an old English word meaning “friend”	Weiner	English “V-eye-ner”, Wein is wine.  Could be someone working in the wine industry, often a vintner. Older times:  a maker of wicker devices like fans and baskets. Or sellers thereof, or people from a region where this is a main profession. [3]
	Wiener	“V-ee-ner”, someone or something from Vienna. Wiener Schnitzel is a cutlet in the Viennese style.
Weller	Bruner, Brunner	Brun is the root for well, or a spring. One who worked with water, like acquiring it, or someone from near such a place
Wheeler	Rademacher	I actually know someone with the Radmacher surname; she’s in Saint Louis.  One who makes wheels, mostly for carts (Wagen)
Wright, Wainwright, Millwright …	Wagenknecht [6], Wainwright could also be Wagner	A wright is a craftsman, one who builds or repairs special things like wagons, mill gears, usually from wood. A wainwright is one who does this for carts (wagen). A millwright for a mill.
	Zoller, Zöller	Customs agent, toll collector (cognate: toll)

I see that I often used English too generically, as my text quite often is referring to American English surnames.  Sorry.

Joe Girard © 2024

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[1] The Wagner Group is a for profit private army, almost always paid by the Russian Government.  As it’s not officially part of the government, this gives them “plausible deniability” regarding its actions; and casualties are not officially “Russian” losses.  They are still fighting in may places, like the Sahel where they are mostly fighting armed and disruptive Islamists. They are also fighting for Russian interests in in Libya, Venezuela, Sudan and Syria, and several other countries, usually also in support of the local government, or an alternate government that is fighting the one currently in power.

[2] “Man” is a person; “Mann” is a man.  “Wo kann man ein Bier kaufen?” Where can one buy a beer? “Wo kann der Mann ein Bier kaufen?”  Where can the man buy a beer?  Here in surnames-land it makes no difference; just the spelling.

[3] Wicker. Back in the day when Wicks or Wicker was a bundle of sorts, often woven, used to clean grain, by hand.  Could also be weaver.

[4] The Pfister family and Pfister plumbing fixtures company. Long family line reaching back to Württemberg, before there was a German nation.

[5] Surnames became necessary to track populations, legal contracts and record taxes. Consider the popularity of “John” and the possibility of dozens in the same general area.  To more fully discern they added Smith, Baker, Thrasher, Farmer, Wright etc.   There, fixed it (mostly).  Later came 2^nd or middle names.

Middle Names: Started in Rome way back in the empire days, mostly among the elites, most often to more clearly denote ancestral lines. Came to Europe and began spreading in the 15^th or 16^th century, first among elites, then moving to lower classes. Now it also often designates some ancestral information: a mother’s or maternal grandmother’s first or surname, a parent’s first name, an ancestor’s first name, an important family friend or life influence.  In same regard, multiple middle names are used, and surnames are concatenated, joining two (or more) family surnames.  It may also be somewhat religious: forms of Mary, like Marie and Maria, can show a family’s devotion to the mother of Jesus – and may serve double duty with one of the reasons above. Same with Mohammed, John, Patrick, Isaac, Jacob ….

[6] Wagenknecht:  Interesting (to me) footnote. I know a woman with this surname. Simply a wonderful, lovely person. Wagen=cart.  Knecht is a worker or farmhand.

Etymological Roots: It’s someone who worked on wagons, or carts, like a driver or craftsman (Wright). Literally a Wagoner’s servant or assistant. Historically the German Wagenknecht family was renowned for the quality of their wagons.

The name Wagenknecht has recently sprung to prominence; it’s the surname of the woman leader of a new German political party (weirdly, partly eponymously named for her: Sahra Wagenknecht: the BSW). Their policies seem to be a concoction of Hard-left (draws from The Left party, Die Linke), Socialist (redistribution of wealth, equality of outcome), populist (anti-globalist, isolationist, as in “no support for Ukraine or Israel”), and hard right (anti-immigration – although this is also populist – culturally very traditional and conservative, and they fully reject anything that smacks of Wokeism).  Another flavor of right wing populism that seems to be sweeping  Some publications call them national socialists; National Socialist is the exact source of the abbreviated word Nazi (I guess this means they don’t like the BSW party.  The BSW is now, evidently, more hated than AfD).
Germany seems receptive to both parties. With AfD also growing in prominence, now the second most popular, expect the pair to soon upset German politics, and unseat the current wobbly coalition government of “Milquetoast Man”: Olaf Scholz; and possibly upset European politics overall.