List of the most common surnames in Germany

List of the most common surnames in Germany

1. Müller, occupation (miller)
2. Schmidt, occupation (smith) (all homophones combined would rank first)
3. Schneider, occupation (tailor)
4. Fischer, occupation (fisherman)
5. Weber, occupation (weaver)
6. Meyer occupation (originally a manorial landlord, later a self-employed farmer) (all homophones combined would rank second)
7. Wagner, occupation (wainwright)
8. Becker, occupation (baker)
9. Schulz, occupation (medieval sheriff)
10. Hoffmann, occupation (steward or courtier)
11. Schäfer, occupation (shepherd)
12. Koch, occupation (cook)
13. Bauer, occupation (farmer or peasant)
14. Richter, occupation (judge)
15. Klein, trait ("small", "short" )
16. Wolf, perhaps derived from forename (e.g. Wolf, Wolfgang, etc.) or trait ("wolf-like")
17. Schröder, occupation (tailor or wine shipper)
18. Neumann, trait ("new")
19. Schwarz, trait ("black-haired")
20. Zimmermann, occupation (carpenter)
21. Braun, trait ("brown-haired") or forename (Brunhold)
22. Krüger, occupation (innkeeper)
23. Hofmann, occupation (steward or courtier)
24. Hartmann, forename
25. Lange, trait ("tall")
26. Schmitt, occupation (smith)
27. Werner, forename
28. Schmitz, occupation (smith)
29. Krause, trait ("curly-haired")
30. Meier, occupation (originally a manorial landlord, later a self-employed farmer)
31. Lehmann, occupation/class (vassal)
32. Schmid, occupation (smith)
33. Schulze, occupation (medieval mayor)
34. Maier, occupation (originally a manorial landlord, later a self-employed farmer)
35. Köhler, occupation (charcoal-maker)
36. Herrmann, forename
37. König, house name ("king")
38. Walter, forename
39. Mayer, occupation (originally a manorial landlord, later a self-employed farmer)
40. Huber, occupation (farmer)
41. Kaiser, house name ("emperor")
42. Fuchs, trait ("fox hunter" or "fox-like")
43. Peters, forename
44. Lang, trait ("big")
45. Scholz, occupation (medieval mayor)
46. Möller, occupation (miller)
47. Weiß, trait ("white-haired" or "white-skinned")
48. Jung, trait ("young")
49. Hahn, perhaps derived from forename (Johannes)
50. Schubert, occupation (shoemaker)
51. Vogel, house name ("bird")
52. Friedrich, forename
53. Keller, occupation (winemaker)
54. Günther, forename
55. Frank, tribe (Franks)
56. Berger, house name ("mountain")
57. Winkler, occupation (grocer)
58. Roth, trait ("red-haired")
59. Beck, occupation (baker)
60. Lorenz, forename
61. Baumann, occupation (farmer or peasant)
62. Franke, tribe (Franks)
63. Albrecht, forename
64. Schuster, occupation (shoemaker)
65. Simon, forename
66. Ludwig, forename
67. Böhm, nation (Bohemian)
68. Winter, related to winter
69. Kraus, trait ("curly-haired")
70. Martin, forename
71. Schumacher, occupation (shoemaker)
72. Krämer, occupation (merchant)
73. Vogt, occupation (bailiff)
74. Stein, house name ("rock")
75. Jäger, occupation (hunter)
76. Otto, forename
77. Sommer, related to summer
78. Groß, trait ("big")
79. Seidel, perhaps derived from forename (e.g. Siegfried, Sieghart, etc.)
80. Heinrich, forename
81. Brandt, related to fire
82. Haas, house name ("hare")
83. Schreiber, occupation (scrivener)
84. Graf, occupation (count)
85. Schulte, occupation (medieval mayor)
86. Dietrich, forename
87. Ziegler, occupation (brickmaker)
88. Kuhn, perhaps derived from forename (Konrad)
89. Kühn, trait ("brave")
90. Pohl, nation (Pole)
91. Engel, forename or house name ("angel")
92. Horn, house name ("horn")
93. Busch, house name ("shrub")
94. Bergmann, occupation (miner)
95. Thomas, forename
96. Voigt, occupation (bailiff)
97. Sauer, trait ("grim")
98. Arnold, forename
99. Hague, perhaps derived from forename (e.g. Haag)
100. Pfeiffer, occupation (piper)
101. Wolfe ( e.g Wolf ) Wolfgang

Regional differences

Although Müller is the most common name in German-speaking countries, in some areas other surnames are more frequent than Müller . The common names Schmidt and Schmitz lead in the central German-speaking and eastern Low German-speaking areas. Meyer is particularly common in the Low German-speaking regions, especially in Lower Saxony (where it is more common than Müller). Bauer leads in eastern Upper German-speaking Bavaria. Rarer names tend to accumulate in the north and south. Huber is common in southern Bavaria and is, with the exception of Munich, the most frequent name in that area. The Patronymic surnames Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common names in the far north (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein).

Contents

• List of the most common surnames in Germany
• Regional differences
• Slavic names
• Turkish names
• Names of other origins
• Literature
• References

Slavic names

Due to the historical settlement of Slavs, Slavic names are most common in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (especially in Lusatia, where Sorbs continue to reside today). About 13% of the German population today has names of Slavic origin. Many Austrians also have surnames of Slavic origin.

Polish names in Germany abound as a result of over 100,000 people (including 130,000 "Ruhrpolen") immigrating westward from the Polish-speaking areas of the German Empire. Many Polish-named Germans reside in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, though they are mostly "Germanized" by form (e.g. Orlowski, Schimanski, Rudzinski, Kowalski, Schymanietz, Matuzek to Matussek or Mattner, Koslowski, etc.).

Turkish names

The large number of Turkish immigrants to Germany accounts for the frequency of Turkish surnames.

Names of other origins

Because many Vietnamese sought asylum in West Germany or guest work in East Germany during and after the Vietnam War and because approximately 40% of the Vietnamese population carry one particular name, the surname Nguyen is notably common in Germany. In other countries with larger numbers of Vietnamese immigrants, Nguyen is even more frequent, as in France (835th) or the United States (229th).

Literature