Surnames in Bavaria

Bavaria is one of the oldest and most expansive of the German states. After the 12th century, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and names that were derived from occupations were particularly common in this region.

In the medieval period, very few people were literate and scribes often recorded names as they sounded rather than according to uniform spelling rules. As a result of the multitude of local dialects in Germany, it was entirely possible that a name would even change between father and son. Additionally, the German language was divided into the linguistically distinct dialects of High and Low German. High German has become the standard modem German language, whereas Low German is linguistically closer to Dutch. Many German surnames may be recognized as belonging to a particular region by their suffixes. It was also common in Germany to add phrases to a name, in order to express something about a person's place of origin, religious background, or character. Thus, German surnames are distinguished by scores of regional spelling variations.

The development of surnames in Germany occurred much later than in Italy, Britain, or France. During the Middle Ages, the practice of adopting hereditary surnames began in southern areas and gradually spread northward. The first hereditary surnames in German-speaking regions were found in the second half of the 12th century when the nobility began to call themselves after their ancestral seats. Among the citizens, surnames were not adopted until the 14th century and did not become stabilized, universal, or fixed in form from one generation to another until the 18th century, when Emperor Joseph 11 decreed that all people throughout the Empire were to assume surnames.

The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian farmers, the chance to own one's own land proved to be a major incentive. The process of the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered around Ontario and the Prairie provinces.