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This article is from the German Genealogy FAQ, by Jim Eggert EggertJ@crosswinds.net with numerous contributions by others.

11 What does my German surname mean?

The meaning of a German surname can often be found in a German-
English dictionary (e.g., Schmidt means smith, M"uller means
miller). Sometimes spelling modifications, pronunciation shifts,
or dialectal origins hide the original meaning. In such cases,
a general or specifically German name lexicon can be useful.
Three standard German works are
"Deutsche Namenkunde" by Max Gottschald,
"Deutsches Namenlexikon" by Hans Bahlow,
also available in English as "Dictionary of German Names", and
"Das grosse Buch der Familiennamen" by Horst Naumann.
Please note that name interpretation is often speculative.

 

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