If you decide to not hire a Genealogist, you may find yourself trying to determine what an unfamiliar German Last Name is from an old document, such as a Death Certificate or a Marriage Record. This list will help identify some of those names.
List of Most Common German Last Names
This is a list of the top 100 common German Surnames according to 2012’s German phonebooks. The list includes the English translation / definition.
01. Müller miller
02. Schmidt smith
03. Schneider taylor
04. Fischer fisher
05. Weber weaver
06. Schäfer shepherd
07. Meyer steward of landholder
08. Wagner wagoner
09. Becker from Bäcker – baker
10. Bauer farmer
11. Hoffmann landed farmer
12. Schulz mayor
13. Koch cook
14. Richter judge
15. Klein small
16. Wolf wolf
17. Schröder carter
18. Neumann new man
19. Braun brown
20. Werner defense army
21. Schwarz black
22. Hofmann landed farmer
23. Zimmermann carpenter
24. Schmitt smith
25. Hartmann strong man
26. Schmid smith
27. Weiß white
28. Schmitz smith
29. Krüger potter
30. Lange long
31. Meier steward of landholder
32. Walter leader, ruler
33. Köhler charcoal-maker
34. Maier steward of landholder
35. Beck from Bach – stream; Bäcker – baker
36. König king
37. Krause curly-haired
38. Schulze mayor
39. Huber land owner
40. Mayer steward of landholder
41. Frank from Franconia
42. Lehmann serf
43. Kaiser emperor
44. Fuchs fox
45. Herrmann warrior
46. Lang long
47. Thomas Aramaic twin
48. Peters Greek rock
49. Stein rock, stone
50. Jung young
51. Möller miller
52. Berger from French -> shepherd
53. Martin latin war-like
54. Friedrich fridu- peace, rihhi- powerful
55. Scholz mayor
56. Keller cellar
57. Groß big
58. Hahn rooster
59. Roth from rot -red
60. Günther Scandinavian warrior
61. Vogel bird
62. Schubert Schuochwürchte-> shoemaker
63. Winkler from Winkel ->angle
64. Schuster shoemaker
65. Jäger hunter
66. Lorenz derived from latin Laurentius
67. Ludwig luth- famous, wig- war
68. Baumann farmer
69. Heinrich heim > home and rihhi – powerful
70. Otto ot- property, inheritance
71. Simon Hebrew God has listened
72. Graf count, earl
73. Kraus curly-haired
74. Krämer small trader, dealer
75. Böhm of Bohemia
76. Schulte from Schultheiß – debt-broker
77. Albrecht adal- noble, bereht- famous
78. Franke of Franconia
79. Winter winter
80. Schumacher cobbler, shoemaker
81. Vogt steward
82. Haas – nickname for rabbit hunter; coward
83. Sommer summer
84. Schreiber writer, scribe
85. Engel angel
86. Ziegler brickmaker
87. Dietrich people’s ruler
88. Brandt fire, burn
89. Seidel mug
90. Kuhn councilman
91. Busch bush
92. Horn horn
93. Arnold strength of an eagle
94. Kühn councilman
95. Bergmann miner
96. Pohl Polish
97. Pfeiffer piper
98. Wolff wolf
99. Voigt steward
100. Sauer sour
02. Schmidt smith
03. Schneider taylor
04. Fischer fisher
05. Weber weaver
06. Schäfer shepherd
07. Meyer steward of landholder
08. Wagner wagoner
09. Becker from Bäcker – baker
10. Bauer farmer
11. Hoffmann landed farmer
12. Schulz mayor
13. Koch cook
14. Richter judge
15. Klein small
16. Wolf wolf
17. Schröder carter
18. Neumann new man
19. Braun brown
20. Werner defense army
21. Schwarz black
22. Hofmann landed farmer
23. Zimmermann carpenter
24. Schmitt smith
25. Hartmann strong man
26. Schmid smith
27. Weiß white
28. Schmitz smith
29. Krüger potter
30. Lange long
31. Meier steward of landholder
32. Walter leader, ruler
33. Köhler charcoal-maker
34. Maier steward of landholder
35. Beck from Bach – stream; Bäcker – baker
36. König king
37. Krause curly-haired
38. Schulze mayor
39. Huber land owner
40. Mayer steward of landholder
41. Frank from Franconia
42. Lehmann serf
43. Kaiser emperor
44. Fuchs fox
45. Herrmann warrior
46. Lang long
47. Thomas Aramaic twin
48. Peters Greek rock
49. Stein rock, stone
50. Jung young
51. Möller miller
52. Berger from French -> shepherd
53. Martin latin war-like
54. Friedrich fridu- peace, rihhi- powerful
55. Scholz mayor
56. Keller cellar
57. Groß big
58. Hahn rooster
59. Roth from rot -red
60. Günther Scandinavian warrior
61. Vogel bird
62. Schubert Schuochwürchte-> shoemaker
63. Winkler from Winkel ->angle
64. Schuster shoemaker
65. Jäger hunter
66. Lorenz derived from latin Laurentius
67. Ludwig luth- famous, wig- war
68. Baumann farmer
69. Heinrich heim > home and rihhi – powerful
70. Otto ot- property, inheritance
71. Simon Hebrew God has listened
72. Graf count, earl
73. Kraus curly-haired
74. Krämer small trader, dealer
75. Böhm of Bohemia
76. Schulte from Schultheiß – debt-broker
77. Albrecht adal- noble, bereht- famous
78. Franke of Franconia
79. Winter winter
80. Schumacher cobbler, shoemaker
81. Vogt steward
82. Haas – nickname for rabbit hunter; coward
83. Sommer summer
84. Schreiber writer, scribe
85. Engel angel
86. Ziegler brickmaker
87. Dietrich people’s ruler
88. Brandt fire, burn
89. Seidel mug
90. Kuhn councilman
91. Busch bush
92. Horn horn
93. Arnold strength of an eagle
94. Kühn councilman
95. Bergmann miner
96. Pohl Polish
97. Pfeiffer piper
98. Wolff wolf
99. Voigt steward
100. Sauer sour
Source: www.about.com
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