Rothschild Family History
Rothschild Name Meaning
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by a red sign (Middle High German rōt ‘red’ + schilt ‘sign shield’) the earliest recorded example dating from the 13th century. The famous banking family of this name took it from a house so marked in the Jewish quarter of Frankfurt-am-Main but the name has also been adopted by many Ashkenazic Jews unrelated to the family. In Britain the surname is normally given the spelling pronunciation ‘Roths-child’; the original pronunciation is ‘Rote-shilt’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022