Zimmerman (surname)

Zimmerman
Family name
Meaning Carpenter, room builder
Region of origin Germany
Related names Zimmer (surname), Zimmermann, Simmerman, Carpenter, Charpentier, Carpentier, Timmerman

Zimmerman derives from the German last name Zimmermann which means "carpenter". Within the United States, it is ranked as the 441st-most common surname.[1] Zimmer in German means "room" or archaically a chamber within a structure. The German man or mann (in English the extra n is ignored) means "man" or "worker". Combining the two German words, you get "a worker of wood", or, literally translated, "room man" or "room worker".[2][3][4]

German names were regularly Anglicized with immigration. Surnames were often translated, so in this case, Zimmerman would become Carpenter. Sometimes modification was done by immigration officials upon entry into the United States if the immigrant was illiterate. The official would simply write down what they heard according to their own spelling rules, and that would become their legal name. Later generations also altered their original family names frequently after being in the United States many years.

Zimmerman may refer to:

People

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau; "Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last"; published May 9, 1995; <http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.all.last>
  2. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau; "Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last"; published May 9, 1995; <http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.all.last>
  3. ↑ Combined from several sources including: Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996 by Barnes & Noble Books, and Concise Oxford Dictionary - 10th Edition by Oxford University Press.
  4. ↑ Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper, 2001-2010, accessed April 13, 2010.
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