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The Top 100 German Surnames

Meanings and Origins of Common Last Names

by Ingrid Bauer
Updated August 12, 2018

German last names originate from places and professions in Germany and far beyond,
as a list of 100 of the most common German surnames shows. The list was initially
created by searching for the most common last names in German telephone books.
Where variations of a spelling of a surname occurred, those monikers are listed as
separate names. For instance, Schmidt, which is ranked No. 2, also appears as Schmitt
(No.

24), and Schmid (No. 26). This list is different than one showing popular German
surnames with their English translations.

The Origin of German Last Names

The meanings of German last names are those as defined initially when these names
became surnames. For example, the surname Meyer means dairy farmer today,
whereas, during the Middle Ages, Meyer designated people who were stewards of
landholders. Most German surnames derive either from archaic professions (such as
Schmidt, Müller, Weber, or Schäfer) or places. Few of the latter are on the following list,
but examples include Brinkmann, Berger, and Frank.

German Last Names and Their Meanings

In the table, the German name is listed on the left, with its origin (and explanation if
needed) on the right. The acronyms OHG and MHG stand for Old High German and
Middle High German, respectively. The acronyms are noted because you won't find the
translations for these names in standard online translators or even most German
dictionaries.

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German Surname Meaning/Origin

Müller miller

Schmidt smith

Schneider taylor

Fischer fisher

Weber weaver

Schäfer shepherd

Meyer (MHG) steward of landholder; leaseholder

Wagner wagoner

Becker from Bäcker >baker

Bauer farmer

Hoffmann landed farmer

Schulz mayor

Koch cook

Richter judge

Klein small

Wolf wolf

Schröder carter

Neumann new man

Braun brown

Werner (OHG) defense army

Schwarz black

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Hofmann landed farmer

Zimmermann carpenter

Schmitt Smith

Hartmann strong man

Schmid Smith

Weiß white

Schmitz Smith

Krüger potter

Lange long

Meier (MHG) steward of land; leaseholder

Walter leader, ruler

Köhler charcoal-maker

Maier (MHG) steward of landholder; leaseholder

Beck from Bach–stream; Bäcker–baker

König king

Krause curly-haired

Schulze mayor

Huber landowner

Mayer steward of landholder; leaseholder

Frank from Franconia

Lehmann serf

Kaiser emperor

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Fuchs fox

Herrmann warrior

Lang long

Thomas (Aramaic) twin

Peters (Greek) rock

Stein rock, stone

Jung young

Möller miller

Berger from French–shepherd

Martin (Latin) war-like

Friedrich (OHG) fridu–peace, rihhi–powerful

Scholz mayor

Keller cellar

Groß big

Hahn rooster

Roth from rot–red

Günther (Scandinavian) warrior

Vogel bird

Schubert (MHG) Schuochwürchte–shoemaker

Winkler from Winkel–angle

Schuster shoemaker; Jäger–hunter

Lorenz (Latin) Laurentius

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Ludwig (OHG) luth–famous, wig–war

Baumann - farmer

Heinrich (OHG) heim–home and rihhi–powerful

Otto OHG ot–property, inheritance

Simon (Hebrew) God has listened

Graf count, earl

Kraus curly-haired

Krämer small trader, dealer

Böhm of Bohemia

Schulte from Schultheiß–debt-broker

Albrecht (OHG) adal–noble, bereht–famous

Franke (Old French) Franconia

Winter winter

Schumacher cobbler, shoemaker

Vogt steward

Haas (MHG) nickname for rabbit hunter; coward

Sommer summer

Schreiber writer, scribe

Engel angel

Ziegler brickmaker

Dietrich (OHG) people’s ruler

Brandt fire, burn

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Seidel mug

Kuhn councilman

Busch bush

Horn horn

Arnold (OHG) strength of an eagle

Kühn councilman

Bergmann miner

Pohl Polish

Pfeiffer piper

Wolff wolf

Voigt steward

Sauer sour

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