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In medieval or early modern names, the von particle was at times added to commoners' names; thus, Hans von Duisburg meant ' Hans from [the city of] Duisburg '. This meaning is preserved in Swiss toponymic surnames and in the Dutch van, which is a cognate of von but also does not necessarily indicate nobility.
For ease of use, the [i] in front of the last name, and the ending _ve, were dropped. If the last name ends in [a], then removing the [j] would give the name of the patriarch or the place, as in, Grudaj - j = Gruda (place in MM). Otherwise, removing the whole ending [aj] yields the name of founder or place of origin, as in Lekaj - aj = Lek(ë).
Surnames of German language origin. Wikimedia Commons has media related to German-language surnames . This category will also include Yiddish -language surnames, where the surname has its origins in German .
Sometimes von is also used in geographical names that are not noble, as in von Däniken. With family names originating locally, many names display particular characteristics of the local dialects, such as the south German, Austrian and Swiss diminutive endings -l-el, -erl, -le or -li as in Kleibl, Schäuble or Nägeli (from 'Nagel', nail). The ...
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.
Von is a Germanic-language preposition that approximately means of or from. When it prefixes a surname it is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. When it prefixes a surname it is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence.
Owing to its Flemish origin, the surname of Ludwig van Beethoven contains the prefix van, rather than (as might be expected of someone born in Bonn) its German equivalent von. van (Dutch pronunciation: ⓘ) is a very common prefix in Dutch language surnames, where it is known as a tussenvoegsel.
An example is the German composer Johann Christian Bach, the "London Bach", who was known as "John Bach" after emigrating to England. [3] During the time in which there were large influxes of immigrants from Europe to the United States and United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries, the given names and surnames of many immigrants were ...