German Family History
- German Name Meaning
- English: ethnic name from Old French germain ‘German’ (Latin Germanus). This sometimes denoted an actual immigrant from Germany, but was also used to refer to a person who had trade or other connections with German-speaking lands. The Latin word Germanus is of obscure and disputed origin; the most plausible of the etymologies that have been proposed is that the people were originally known as the ‘spear-men’, with Germanic ger, gar ‘spear’ as the first element. English (of Norman origin): from the Old French personal name Germain (see Germain). Americanized spelling of Spanish Germán or Hungarian Germán, cognates of 2. German: from the saint’s name German(us). See also Germann. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): Russianized variant of Hermann. Greek: reduced form of Germanos, a Greek personal name, bestowed in honor of saints of the Eastern Church distinct from St. Germain: in particular, St. Germanos in the 8th century, liturgical poet and patriarch of Constantinople. The Greek surname can also denote someone associated with Germany or someone with blond hair.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
- Historical Documents with German on Ancestry
Ready to discover your family story?
Simply start with yourself and we'll do the searching for you.
Number of German families
 110 - 218  37 - 109 |
 1 - 36  |
from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
German census records
You can see how German families moved over time by selecting different Census years.
Census records can tell you little-known facts about your ancestors such as birthplace, occupation and value of personal estate.
from the New York Passengers List
Click on a place to view German immigration records
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry. You can find out where the majority of the German families were living before they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure, port of arrival, and destination.
from the New York Passenger Lists
Click on a circle in the chart to view German emigration records
You can find out when most of the German families immigrated to the United States. You can focus your search to emigration records dating from that era.
Emigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure, port of arrival and destination.
from 1881 UK Census Data
German census records
Census records can offer a lot of little known facts about your German ancestors, such as occupation.
Occupation can tell you about your ancestors' social status and economic status.
Did the Germans fight in a war? Military records can tell you a lot
about your ancestors including birthplace, occupation and even physical descriptions.
×