Vogt Family History

German: occupational name for a reeve, a bailiff, a farm manager, or other person with supervisory authority. Middle High German voget, Late Latin vocatus, from Latin advocatus, past participle of advocare ‘to call upon (to help)’. The term originally denoted someone who appeared before a court on behalf of some party not permitted to make direct representations, often an ecclesiastical body which was not supposed to have any dealings with temporal authorities.

In some parts of central Europe, the word came to mean ‘village headman’. This surname is also found in France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine), the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Poland.

See also Fath, Focht, Vaeth, Voigt, and Voit; compare Faught, Fought, Vaught, Voght, Voight, Vote, and Vought.