The 100 most common surnames in Germany

Germany is perhaps one of the European countries with the longest history of all due both to its influence in other surrounding regions and to the evolution it has had in its own lands, even overcoming terrible events that will leave a scar forever.

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The list of the most common German surnames

One of the ways to get to know their culture is through the names that are most commonly used in this country. Names that have a lot to do with the profession they developed, the lineage or the place they came from, in the same way we can see some mixtures with other cultural ancestors. As we will see below in this list with the 100 most common surnames in Germany.

1. Muller

It is one of the most common surnames in Germany. Denotes the occupation of miller.

2. bergmann

It has two meanings: 'mountain man' and 'miner'. So it is a toponymic and occupational surname.

3. Otto

It is also often used as a name. So it is a patronymic surname that alludes to 'son of Otto'.

4. blumenthal

It means 'valley of flowers' and was used to denote the families who lived near the gardens.

5. Schulz

Another of the most common German surnames. It comes from the word 'Schulteize' which refers to the people who were in charge of collecting payments.

6. Ackermann

It comes from both Old German and Medieval English. Its meaning is 'man of the field.

7. Bosch

We can recognize it by the car brand. But in German it means 'place with many trees'. Which was a reference to people who lived near forests.

8. Pfeiffer

Its meaning is 'flautist' and it is believed that it was the ancient way of denoting the musicians who played the flute.

9. Böhm

It does not have a specific origin, although it is believed that it may come from the former Czechoslovakia, since it means 'bohemian'. Which may be a reference to the city.

10. Koch

It is an old form of German to call cooks. It is not only a popular surname in Germany but also in Austria.

11. Burghardt

It is a patronymic surname that means, 'son of Burghardt'. It is also used as a name.

12. Adenauer

It is believed that it is a geographical surname, since it can point to people who were from the city of Adenau.

13. Dietrich

It comes from the old Germanic masculine given name, which means 'the one who rules the people'.

14. Schneider

Another of the most popular German surnames. It comes from the verb 'schneiden' which means 'to cut'. It was the way to call the tailors.

15. Christiansen

This is a surname of Danish origin, it is a religious patronymic that alludes to Catholic and Christian believers, since it is defined as 'Son of Christians'.

16. Schmidt

It has its origin in the Anglo dialect 'smith' that referred to the people who worked with the blacksmith.

17. klein

One of the best known German surnames internationally. It comes from the adjective 'small'. So it could be a reference to people of short stature.

18. Clemens

It comes from the Latin 'clemens' which literally means 'merciful'. Denotes a person who is kind.

19. Engel

It is a quite original surname, which is also used as a name. Its meaning is 'angel'.

20. Adler

It is another of the best known German surnames in the world. It refers to 'eagle'.

21. arnold

It is a patronymic surname that comes from the same name, This is a combination of 'arn' and 'wald' forming the meaning of 'mighty eagle'.

22. Black

It comes from the Old German meaning 'black'. Which was used both to denote color and as a reference to people with black hair.

23. Frank

It comes from the old Germanic name that was given to people who came from France.

24. Friedrich

It is a combination of the Old High German words 'fridu' and 'rîhhi' meaning 'one who brings peace'.

25. Schroeder

This surname was also a way of referring to tailors, but this time, it comes from Old Low German: 'schrôden'.

26. Aigner

It is an Austro-Bavarian root surname. It does not have a specific meaning, but it can refer to 'assign'.

27. Hass

It is believed that it comes from the Germanic 'haso' which means hare. What could be a nickname for agile people.

28. graph

It comes from the title given to the presidents of the royal courts in the Middle Ages.

29. Zimmermann

It is the old German way to refer to carpenters.

30. Winter

It has Anglo and German roots and means 'winter'.

31. Fisher

It is one of the most used surnames in Germany. It is a reference to the fishermen.

32. Gunther

It is a surname that has two roots: Germanic and Nordic. It refers to 'battle army'.

33. Gross

It means 'great or great' and is believed to have been used primarily by royals.

34. lange

It is a variant of the surname Lang, which means 'long'.

35. Albrecht

It is a homonymous patronymic surname. It comes from the old German 'edel' and 'berühmt' which means 'famous nobleman'.

36. Drechsler

It is a term that was used in the past to describe artisans.

37. Hartmann

It is a combination of 'hart' and 'mann' which refers to 'strong man'.

38. Kruger

It was the term used for tavern keepers or innkeepers. It has the variants of: Kruger and Krueger.

39. Hann

It means 'rooster' in Old German and is a reference to people with an active personality.

40. Weber

It is an occupational surname for people who worked as weavers.

41. Heinrich

It is another homonymous patronymic surname. It is believed that its meaning is 'the one who rules in the home'.

42. Fuchs

Its literal meaning is 'fox' and it was a way of describing red-haired people.

43. Lehman

It comes from High German and means 'the vassal'.

44. Bach

Its closest meaning is 'stream'. It became popular thanks to the family of Johann Sebastian Bach.

45. Eberhard

It has both Germanic and Anglo roots. It means 'boar' and is a way of describing those who are strong and brave.

46. Jager

It is another popular surname in Germany and the rest of the world. It means 'hunter'.

47. werner

It can also be used as a masculine name. It refers to 'verner' which means 'he who is protective'.

48. Richter

Although it is widely used as a unit of measurement for earthquakes, its meaning in German is 'judge'.

49. Mayer

A surname that can be heard very frequently in the United States. It comes from 'Meier' which refers to the rulers.

50. Keller

It is a surname that is associated with the Middle Ages, it referred to the people in charge of the wine cellars.

51. wolf

This is another surname that can be used as a name. Its meaning is 'wolf'.

52. Winkler

It is an occupational surname that refers to merchants.

53. Baier

It does not have a specific origin or meaning, but it is believed that it can be 'crown' or 'helmet'.

54. Weiß

Its meaning is 'white' and it could be a way of referring to people with very light skin or hair.

55. Kramer

It is an Austrian word meaning 'merchant'.

56. Kohler

It is an occupational surname for people who work with or produced coal.

57. Schubert

Another occupational surname that was used to refer to shoemakers.

58. Wagner

It was used to refer to the people who made wagons or worked on them.

59. Kuhn

It is a contraction of the masculine given name 'Konrad'.

60. Roth

It comes from the word 'rot' which means 'red'. So it was a designation for people with red hair.

61. Jung

It means 'young' and was often used to differentiate a father from a son.

62. Baumann

It derives from the Middle High German 'buman' which refers to farmer.

63. Seidel

It has an ancient Germanic origin meaning 'settle'.

64. Simon

It comes from the Hebrew 'Schimʿon' which means 'God has heard'.

65. Hermann

It has its roots in the combination of the words 'heer' and 'mann' which means 'army men'.

66. Horn

It is a geographical surname used for people who lived in rocky areas.

67. Kaiser

It comes from the old German title for emperors. It derives from the Latin 'Caesar' which means 'Caesar'.

68. Lorenz

It comes from the Germanized form of the Latin word 'Laurentius'.

69. Pohl

It can be a patronymic meaning 'son of Paul' or come from the Slavic root 'pohle' meaning 'field'.

70. Vogel

It literally means 'bird' and was also a reference to those who traded birds.

71. Beck

It has its roots in the Old Norse 'bekkr' which means 'stream'.

72. Grimm

It is a very special surname, since it was the denomination for people who could understand or see things that others could not. It is related to mythology.

73. Ludwig

It is a patronymic homograph surname, which means 'the one who stands out in battle'.

74. Mayer

It is the most common form in Germany for the surname Meyer.

75. Arndt

It comes from the old Germanic to refer to powerful eagles.

76. Becker

It is a variant of 'Bäcker and Baecker', which are a reference to 'baker'.

77. Brandt

It has two meanings in Old Germanic: 'fire' and 'sword'.

78. Jahn

It is a variant of the Hebrew name 'John', which means 'the grace of God'.

79. Kraus

It comes from Middle High German and means: 'curly-haired person'.

80. Hoffman

It is an occupational surname that was used to refer to butlers.

81. kraft

It comes from the old German form 'craft' which means 'courage'.

82. Stein

It is a surname that is used to denote people who live in rocky areas.

83. Vogt

It is a word that was used to denote people who were bailiffs.

84. Lutz

It comes from the German canton of Switzerland, which refers to the Lutzenberg mountain road.

85. beckenbauer

It is an old Germanic surname meaning 'he who makes basins'.

86. summer

It derives from the Nordic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon words that refer to summer.

87. huber

It comes from the English word 'hibe', an old metric unit that was equal to 100 acres.

88. Neumann

It is another of the most popular surnames in Germany. It means 'new man' or 'newcomer person'.

89. botcher

It is an occupational surname given to people who worked making barrels.

90. voigt

It derives from the Latin word 'advocatus' and was a reference for a person who was dedicated to religious advocacy.

91. Einstein

It has its origin in the Middle High German language, it is used as a first and last name. Its meaning is 'surround with stones'.

92. peters

It is a patronymic surname that refers to 'the children of Pedro'.

93. frey

It may be derived from the way the Scandinavian goddess Freya was called.

94. Ziegler

It is an occupational surname given to people who worked with bricks.

95. Geiger

It was a term used to refer to musicians who played the violin.

96. Ullrich

It comes from the Old High German 'Odalrīc' which means 'he who has inheritance'.

97. Walter

It originated from the masculine proper name, which means 'the chief of the army'.

98. Reuters

It is a toponymic surname for people who lived near a clearing.

99. Sauer

It is an old German word that was used to refer to angry people.

100. Schafer

It has several variants, such as: 'Shaefer, Schaeffer or Schafer' and means 'shepherd'.