I wish to thank Andrea Claussen of Germany for providing the information of the German Family names that are found in the Manning, Iowa area. (just a note -- these definitions are not written in stone)
| Surname | meaning and background description | |
| Opperman | sexton or sacristan | |
| Odendahl |
| valley with a creek running through a meadows
valley |
| Rutz | rust | |
| Pfannkuch | pancake | |
| Ranniger | Schleswig/Holstein name | |
| Sieve | about the same as Victor | |
| Reinke | clear & hard or clean & clear
Reinke de Voss is the name of the fox in a fable | |
| Renze |
| Lawrence
Reinhard |
| Struve | rough or touseled hair More information: comes from the verb "sich sträuben" which means to resist. It comes from the so called "Bauernkrieg" in the early middle age, where the farmers raised against the king in south germany. | |
| Schroeder | Those who cut the cloth for the tailors
Those who emptied barrels | |
| Wieman(n) |
| wineman
willowman |
| Vehrs | ---- | |
| Schrum(m) | scar | |
| Arp | Germanic for brown | |
| Rhude | cleared land | |
| Karsten | Christian | |
| Hilsabeck |
| woodthistle
creek (one who lives in a woodthistle creek) |
| Lage | location / situation | |
| Groteluschen | living near the reed (marshland) | |
| Hass | hate | |
| Miller | --- | |
| Hoffmann | Old German | hopeman Field Man (protector of a landlord's farm properties) |
| Friedman | peaceman | |
| Hornberger | town in the Black Forest |
| Wanninger | --- | |
| Weiskircher | white church | |
| Grundmeier | ground master | |
| Linder | Linden tree | |
| Irlmeier | --- | |
| Weitl | ---- | |
| Mundt | mouth | |
| Nulle | null | |
| Sturm | storm | |
| Vonnahme |
| of taking
name (the first name of a person) |
| Kalkhoff | chalk yard | |
| Vollstedt | full town | |
| Rowedder | rough weather | |
| Dammann | dam man (in charge of a dike) | |
| Rohe | rough or raw | |
| Fielweber |
| much
weaver |
| Fogelman | birdman | |
| Zinke | a hook | |
| Altenhein | old Henry | |
| Escher | of or from an ash tree | |
| Grau | gray | |
| Handlos | hand less | |
| Hass | hate | |
| Hinners | Henry | |
| Schlicte | plain (like a plain colored shirt) | |
| Kerkhoff | church yard | |
| Kanne | jar / pottery / tin | |
| Wiese | meadow | |
| Witt | white | |
| Bauer | farmer | |
| Drier |
| was a coin worth three pence
Drechsler = turner |
| Hugeback | piggy back | |
| Stein | stone | |
| Kasperbauer |
| Kasperle (a puppet)
farmer |
| Drees | Andree / Andrew | |
| Kusel |
| whirlwind
whirl |
| Sibbel | --- | |
| Suhr | sour | |
| Bruhn | brown |
| Musfeldt | mouse field | |
| Mohr | move | |
| Muhlbauer | mill farmer | |
| Odendahl |
| ---
valley |
| Schmidt | smith | |
| Eickman | oak man | |
| Grimm | unfriendly | |
| Gruhn | green | |
| Wegner | way maker | |
| Wittrock | white rock | |
| Ploen | town in Germany | |
| Eickelkamp | oak field | |
| von Roden |
| of a
clearance |
| Eggers | cultivator (one who works with a cultivator) | |
| Wunderlich | a little strange or crazy | |
| Grube | a hole that is dug into the ground | |
| Höhl | cave | |
| Mads | Mathias / Matthew | |
| Brygmann | bridge man | |
| Schilling | a coin (shilling) | |
| Beck | creek | |
| Koester | church janitor |
| Ahrendsen | son of Ahrend | |
| Lorenzen | son of Lorenz | |
| Nissen | --- | |
| Behrens | son of Berend / Bernard | |
| Jurgens | son of George / Jürgen / Georg / Jürn / Jorn | |
| Friedrichsen | son of Frederik / Friedrick | |
| Albertsen | son of Albert |