German Crests

Aachen/Achen Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle (German city)

Abend/Abendroth evening/dusk

Abt abbott

Ackerman(n) farmer

Adler eagle

Amsel blackbird

B

Bach brook

Bachmeier farmer by the brook

Bader/Baader bath, spa keeper

Baecker/Becker baker

Baer/Bar bear

Barth beard

Bauer farmer, peasant

Baum tree

Bayer/Beyer Bavarian

Beckenbauer basin/bowl maker

Beich/Beike slope (OHG)

Berg mountain

Bergmann miner

Bieber beaver (industrious)

Biermann beer man (brewer)

Blau blue

Boehm/Bohm of Bohemia

Brandt fire, land cleared by fire

Brauer brewer

Braun brown

Bürger/Burger townsman, citizen

Busch/Bosch bush

Canning (origin: Saxon.)

Caroline (origin: Ger.)

Channing (origin: Saxon.)

Charles (origin: Ger.)

Charles (origin: Ger.)

Claget (origin: Ger.)

Clough (origin: Anglo-Saxon. Local)

Clowes (origin: Anglo-Saxon. Local)

Cutting (origin: Saxon.)

Cuyler (origin: Ger.)

Denton;Dinton (origin: Sax. Local)

Dering (origin: Saxon.)

Diefendorf (origin: Ger. Local)

Dillingham (origin: Saxon. Local)

Dixie (origin: Sax. Local)

Dodd;Dod (origin: Ger.)

Dunstan (origin: Sax.)

Dunstan (origin: Sax.)

Earhart Eshelman Everhart Fair Farmer, Bowers Fate Focht Fogel, Fogle Fox Frailey, Fraley Frederick Free Fry Fulmer

Gairing, Gehrig Cering Gardner Gase Good, Goode

Kellerman - worker / dweller in a wine cellar / tavern dweller

Kessler - coppersmith or one who sold or made kettles/pots

Kramer - merchant/retailer

Krieg, Krieger - war, warrior, in Yiddish could mean tavern keeper or barkeep

Kuster (Kuester) - sexton

Kunstler - artist / artisan

Bauer (farmer) Bower

Ku(e)per (cask maker) Cooper

Klein (small) Cline/Kline

Kaufmann (merchant) Coffman

Fleischer/Metzger Butcher

Färber Dyer

Huber (manager of a feudal estate) Hoover

Kappel Chapel

Koch Cook

Meier/Meyer (dairy farmer) Mayer

Schuhmacher, Schuster Shoemaker, Shuster

Schultheiss/Schultz (mayor; orig. debt broker) Shul(t)z

Zimmermann Carpenter

Source: Americans and Germans: A Handy Reader by Wolfgang Glaser, 1985, Verlag Moos & Partner, Munich

Lang long

Lehmann/Lemann serf, fief man

Lehrer teacher

Loewe/Lowe lion

Luft air

M

Mahler/Mehler grinder, miller

Mauer wall

Maurer mason

Meister master

Metzger butcher

Meier/Meyer dairy farmer; landowner

Mueller/Muller miller

Moench/Muench monk

N

Nacht night

Nadel needle

Nagel nail

Naumann/Neumann new man

Neudorf/Neustadt new town (Newton)

Nussbaum nut tree

O

Oster east, Easter

Osterhagen east grove, hedge

Ostermann eastern man

P

Pabst/Papst pope

Pfaff cleric, parson

Pfeffer pepper

Pfeifer/Pfeiffer piper

Probst/Propst provost

R

Reinhard(t) determined

Richter judge

Ritter knight

Roth red

Rothschild red shield

Rothstein red stone

S

Saenger/Sanger singer

Sankt saint

Scherer shearer, barber

Schiffer boatman

Schmidt/Schmitt smith

Schneider tailor

Schreiber scribe, scribner, writer

Schreiner joiner, cabinet maker

Schroeder dray man

Schuhmacher shoemaker

Schultheiss/Schultz debt broker; mayor

S(c)huster cobbler, shoemaker

Schwab Swabian

Schwar(t)z black

Schweitzer Swiss; dairy man

Seiler roper

Sommer summer

Strauss bouquet

T

Thalberg valley (and) mountain

Theiss/Theissen form of Matthias

Traugott trust in God

Trommler drummer

U

Unger Hungarian

Urner of Uri (Swiss canton)

V

Vogel bird

Vogler fowler, bird man

Vogt steward

von of (indicates nobility)

W

Waechter warden, watchman

Wagner wagoner, wainwright

Wannemaker basket maker

Weber weaver

Wechsler/Wexler money changer

Weiss white/wheat

Weissmuller wheat miller

Winkel corner, angle

Wirth/Wirtz innkeeper, landlord

Wolf/Wulf wolf

Wurfel/Werfel die, cube

Z

Ziegler brick or tilemaker

Zimmermann carpenter

Zweig twig, branch

Source: Americans and Germans: A Handy Reader by Wolfgang Glaser, 1985, Verlag Moos & Partner, Munich