The surname Ziegenfuss is German and means "goat foot" (alternative spellings include Ziegenfus, Zickafoose, Zickefoose, Sigafoes, Sickafaus, Zeigenfuse, Sickafoose, etc.), which can be traced back to the 15th century. It is a relatively rare name, which arises in Germany particularly in the Ruhr district (Castrop Rauxel), in the Eichsfeld and in the Odenwald.
Etymologists interpret the prefix goat in surnames such as goat foot, goat leg, and goat neck in the form of dryly, thin, etc. Probably the first person with this name had thin, possibly also whitish legs, so that it was used first as a nickname and later as a surname by his descendants.
Genealogy research came to the following results: The origin of all lines is the Eichsfeld area in Thuringia. Some people were mentioned in documents of the Protestant Reformation, e.g. Claus Zcegenfoess in 1525 whose home was burned down together with the monastery Beuren by rebellious farmers in the German Peasants' War. In the Turk tax lists of 1542 and 1548 further family members in the region emerge. In 1597 a Ziegenfuss became a citizen of the city of Duderstadt and between 1585 and 1604 "Ziegenfusses" were mentioned in Goslar. The oldest well-known denomination of the name took place in 1470 in the land register of the nearby city Mühlhausen.
So far the following Ziegenfuss lines are known:
Eichsfeld line: It traces back to a Hans Hildebrand Ziegenfuss, who lived around 1650 in the Eichsfeld area. His descendants live(d) particularly in Silberhausen, Helmsdorf, Dingelstädt and Kallmerode. Some persons immigrated around 1850 into the USA, particularly into the Midwest. Today more than 22,000 descendants were found, most of them in Germany and the USA. More infos about this line can be found here: Descendants of Hans Hildebrand Ziegenfuss
Odenwald line: This line established itself after the Thirty Years' War in the Odenwald (above all Raidelbach, Gadernheim and Beedenkirchen, today local parts of Lautertal (Odenwald)). The ancestor of this line originated from the Eichsfeld village Wingerode. The connection to Eichsfeld the line cannot be reconstructed. Already about 1750 some families emigrated and established them in Pennsylvania. The above-mentioned deviating ways of writing are carried nearly without exception by members of the Odenwald line. In the 18th Century was written the name in the Odenwald also Zehfuss (means toe foot). The American part of the line is investigated partially well and covers more than 4,000 persons, who live mainly in the northeast of the USA.
Ruhr district line: Around 1850 a Ziegenfuss from the Eichsfeld place Ecklingerode emigrated after Castrop-Rauxel. Two of his sons emigrated to the USA and to Australia. Many ' Ziegenfusses ' in the Ruhr district can be assigned this line. Also the work council boss Hans Ziegenfuss become known Germany far into the 1980er to years in the context of the bankruptcy that of Bremer Vulkan belongs to this line.
North German line: In the area of the Lüneburg Heath leave themselves since approx. 1750 persons with the name Ziegenfuss prove. This line was so far only partly investigated. Searches of Robert Ziegenfuss from the Odenwald line into the 1930er years resulted in that connections to the Eichsfeld are to exist. A large family, which resides particularly in Texas, and whose ancestor comes from Weferlingen and Helmstedt, could likewise belong to this line.
Saxon line: In the proximity of Bautzen and Dresden persons with the name leave themselves to prove before 1700 already isolate. More exact information to the origin is missing.
Charles H Ziegenfuss (1840–1923), US-Civil War soldier, engineer
The Venerable Rev. Dr. Henry Lafayette Ziegenfuss, A.M., S.T.D.(November 3, 1844 - February 8, 1894, Rector of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, New York and (1875–1894) and Archdeacon of Dutchess [County, NY] (1886–1894).
Oma Ziegenfuss (1926–1990), German painter and author
Stacie Marie Ziegenfuss, US-American stage designer
Thomas Ziegenfuss (born 1958), German physician and technical book author
Werner Ziegenfuss (1904–1975), German psychologist and sociologist
Wilhelm Ziegenfuss, SPD delegate of the 6th and 7th Federal state parliament by North Rhine-Westphalia
Brandon Woolsey Ziegenfuss (1982–Present). Film, Television & Commercial Director of Photography.
Dr. William E. Ziegenfuss (1854–1928), Physician from Allentown Penn, USA, Graduate of University of Michigan, author, and board member of American Can Corporation.
Joe Ziegenfuss (born 1974), US famous ultrarunner
Brian C. Zickafoose (born 1976), US-American painter, illustrator and publisher
Marc D. Ziegenfuss (born 1966), Intensive Care Physician and President of the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society
