Names
The origin and meaning of our family names
From around the 11th century onward, people began adding further bynames to their given or call names. The urban growth of the time, and the resulting higher population density, made a clearer form of identification necessary.
People were given more descriptive "bynames" that referred, for example, to a person's traits, appearance, home, place of origin, or occupation. Franz became Franz the Farmer, and Paul became Paul the Great. At that time, though, the byname was not yet the family name as we'd understand it today — so even members of the same family could carry different additional names.
Studying names is not only interesting but also necessary for genealogical research. We often find different spellings of the same name among our ancestors. Many people at the time could neither read nor write, so names were written phonetically, the way they sounded.
As a result, the names recorded in certificates and parish registers might refer to one and the same person, yet be spelled in quite different ways.
On this page I've gathered some information on the names in our family chart and their meaning. Our ancestors' names are often identical to the place names of their region of origin — Netzeband, for instance, is both a surname among our ancestors and a village in the Neuruppin district. There are, of course, plenty of interesting books and websites on this subject too.
My thanks also go to H.-G. Böldicke for sharing his linguistic report on the name Böldicke with me.
Names Tell a Story
Böldicke
Christian Benz wrote: Böldicke/Böldeke is a patronymic and corresponds to a Low German pet form of the given name Balduin/Baldewin. An early mention of this name is, for example: Andr. Böldigk, 1536, salt-pan owner in Groß-Salze.
The family name Böldicke should be regarded as a Low German name form, traced back to an old German given name in the form Boldiko or similar. It represents a short form of a more complex name of Germanic origin, going back to Old High German or Old Saxon bald, meaning "bold." The ending "-ke" is typical of northern Germany. Primarily, the name can be interpreted as a patronymic meaning "son/relative of Boldiko/Boldike," though in some cases it may also be read as a nickname for a quick, determined person, or for someone short and stocky.
(Source: linguistic report on the family name Böldicke, University of Leipzig. The report was kindly provided to me by fellow genealogist H. G. Böldicke.) According to statistics from verwandt.de, there are currently (2010) 18 phone book entries in Germany for the name Böldicke (roughly 48 people). The name is notably concentrated in Berlin and Brandenburg, appearing most frequently in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district.
Dahms
Dahms is a patronymic formation from Dahm. The family name Dahm arose as a shortened form of the name Adam.
Gottschalk
Gottschalk was originally an Old High German given name that was very common in the Middle Ages, but survives today only as a family name. The name is composed of "got-scalk" = "God + servant, slave, attendant." This designation likely also expressed a person's devotion to God.
Grubert
The name Grubert is an extended form of the family name Gruber. In wine-growing regions, "Gruber" was an occupational name for people who dug pits ("Gruben") for vine cuttings.
Grunow
A name derived from the identically named place (Brandenburg; formerly Brandenburg, now Poland).
Heidemann
A short form of the given name Heidenreich, or a name derived from a residence, from the Middle High German place-word "heide" meaning "flat, open land." Attested as Heideman (around 1254), Heidemann (around 1548); other forms include Heydemann, Heidmann, Heydmann. The second part of the name, "-mann," was often added to indicate an occupation (Dienstmann), a place of residence (Bachmann), or a personal trait (Altmann). Many given names, too, used to end in "-mann" (Hermann, Hartmann).
Heise
The name arose as a short form, with an "-s" suffix, of Heinrich or Heidenreich.
Kojellis
Kojellis is a Lithuanian name common in East Prussia. It is composed of "kaje" (foot) and the diminutive suffix "-ellis." The name can thus be translated as "little foot." "Kojele" means "little foot" in Lithuanian.
Lilienthal
A name derived from the place name "Lilienthal" (today part of the Osterholz district). The name occurs among our ancestors in the East Prussia/Memel region. The best-known bearer of this name is probably Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal, a German aviation pioneer. For further, more extensive information on people with this name, see www.steffen-sobe.de and the Quassowski card index.
Lilischkies
Describes a personal trait: Lithuanian "liel" = (big), "issks" = (thumb).
Netzeband
A name derived from the identically named place in today's Neuruppin district.
Preiß
Christian Benz wrote: Preiß is a name of origin, referring to a Prussian. In part, the name may also derive from "Preis" (Middle High German for prize, praise, glory, ...).
Rönnefarth
Rönnefahrt, like the family names Reinefarth and Rennefarth, may go back to the given name Reinfried. The "Ahnenerbe" family newsletter, however, describes a different view of the name's origin. You can read the original text from the report on the 5th family day in 1938. The Liebrenz family has also shared a poem on the name Rönnefahrt with us. (Poem on the name's origin)
Schönbeck
A name derived from the identically named place (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, near Danzig).
Sommerfeld
A name derived from the place "Sommerfeld," recorded as Somervelt (around 1381) and Sommerfeld (around 1471).
For further extensive information on the family name Sommerfeld, see the Sommerfeld Forum.
Spielhagen
Spielhagen is a name derived from the identically named place (Brandenburg).
"You can't change your ancestors, but you can help shape what becomes of your descendants."(François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, French writer)