[Surname] Linde de Arenspries. where does this name come from?
My grandfather Rudolph Linde Arenspries, where did he and his surname come from? He had 3 children called Eyolf. Rudolph and Solveig. Died ? at sea heading for Punta Arenas, Chile.According to childs baptismal certificate he was a civil engineer. My mother Solvieg thought he was Norwegian, he died before she was born (May 1912.)
Replies
What variant spellings have you found of the surname in your records? Those might possibly provide a clue. I myself was able to find Ahrenspries in this document from the government of the Falkland Islands:
https://www.fig.gov.fk/archives/jdownloads/Shipping%20News/News%201889-1946%20A-Bian.pdf
I wonder if it could perhaps be a corruption of the German word Ehrenspreis meaning "prize of honour". Alternatively, it could come from Ehrenpreis, the German name for the Veronica plant. See its German article on Wikipedia:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenpreis
Note that Ehrenpreis is an actual surname in Germany (also variantly spelled as Ehrenpreiß):
- Andreas Ehrenpreis (1589-1662): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Ehrenpreis (in German)
- Leon Ehrenpreis (1930-2010): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Ehrenpreis (in English)
- Mordecai Ehrenpreis (1869-1951): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Ehrenpreis (in English)
The change from E- to A- might have happened through the latter Ä, which is pronounced the same as E and so the two letters could be used interchangeably when trying to transcribe the same sound. As such, the process might have been like this:
Ehrenpreis --> Ährenpreis --> Aehrenpreis --> Ahrenpreis (once your ancestor or one of his own ancestors went to Scandinavia, because Ae is pronounced as A over there) and then ultimately Arenpreis.
https://www.fig.gov.fk/archives/jdownloads/Shipping%20News/News%201889-1946%20A-Bian.pdf
I wonder if it could perhaps be a corruption of the German word Ehrenspreis meaning "prize of honour". Alternatively, it could come from Ehrenpreis, the German name for the Veronica plant. See its German article on Wikipedia:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenpreis
Note that Ehrenpreis is an actual surname in Germany (also variantly spelled as Ehrenpreiß):
- Andreas Ehrenpreis (1589-1662): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Ehrenpreis (in German)
- Leon Ehrenpreis (1930-2010): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Ehrenpreis (in English)
- Mordecai Ehrenpreis (1869-1951): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Ehrenpreis (in English)
The change from E- to A- might have happened through the latter Ä, which is pronounced the same as E and so the two letters could be used interchangeably when trying to transcribe the same sound. As such, the process might have been like this:
Ehrenpreis --> Ährenpreis --> Aehrenpreis --> Ahrenpreis (once your ancestor or one of his own ancestors went to Scandinavia, because Ae is pronounced as A over there) and then ultimately Arenpreis.
I'mn o expert, butfrom what I know..Linde is a tree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia
Aren comes from Arend, which means eagle.
Spries, I have no idea.
Aren comes from Arend, which means eagle.
Spries, I have no idea.