Surname Kretzmer - Meaning and Origin
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Kretzmer: What does the surname Kretzmer mean?
The Kretzmer surname is of German origin, derived from the Middle German word for "merchant". It is a common Jewish surname, and is still found among Ashkenazi Jewish families across Europe and the United States. Historically, Kretzmer families were known for their involvement in trade and business, often as traders, accountants, merchants and shopkeepers.
The Kretzmer name has a long and varied history. It first appeared in Jewish records near the end of the 13th century, when a Jacob Kretzmer is identified in written documents in the town of Bamberg, Germany. This Jacob Kretzmer is believed to be the progenitor of the Kretzmer line, and his descendants took on the Kretzmer surname as their own.
Kretzmer families began to migrate from Germany in the mid to late 19th century due to antisemitism and an increasing restriction of religious and economic rights. Following this, most Kretzmer families settled in the UK, the United States, and across Eastern Europe, where there are still large populations of Kretzmers today.
The Kretzmer surname has had an interesting and far-reaching journey since its first appearance in the 13th century. Across Europe and the United States, Jewish families of the Kretzmer line carry on their ancestors’ legacy as tradespeople and entrepreneurs. Like many Jewish families, those of Kretzmer have preserved a rich history of their name and traditions.
Order DNA origin analysisKretzmer: Where does the name Kretzmer come from?
The last name Kretzmer is a German-Jewish surname that is most commonly found in Israel today. There is a small but growing number of people with this surname in the United States, as well. The Kretzmer surname is thought to have originated in Germany, in the city of Berlin, in the 19th century. The surname is also found in countries where Jews from Germany sought refuge, such as Russia, France, and Poland.
The Kretzmer surname appeared in Germany in the 16th century. It is derived from the German word “Kretzmar,” which means cleanliness or tidiness. This is an interesting origin for the surname, as it implies that the first bearer of the Kretzmer name was a very clean and tidy person. The earliest known recorded use of the Kretzmer surname was in the 18th century.
In the 1940s, many Jews with the Kretzmer surname left Germany due to the Holocaust. This caused a significant decrease in the Kretzmer population in Germany, and the vast majority of people with this surname today can be found in Israel. A small number of people with the Kretzmer name have also immigrated to the United States, mostly in urban areas with large Jewish populations, such as New York and Los Angeles.
The Kretzmer surname is a unique one, with a long history and an interesting origin story. Today, it is most commonly found in Israel, and there is a small but growing number of people with this surname in the United States.
Variations of the surname Kretzmer
The surname Kretzmer is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname, that originated from central and Eastern Europe. It is a translation of the German word meaning 'merchant'. The variant spellings of Kretzmer include Kretzmar, Kretzmera, Kretsamer, Kretsmar, Kretzman, Kretsman, Kretschmer, Kretchmer, Kritzmar, Krizmar, and Kryzmer.
It is believed that many of the Kretzmer families were in Germany by the 1500s, but with the successive migrations of Jews throughout Europe, numerous families bearing this name spread to many countries including Hungary, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
The most common variants of the surname can be found in Poland, Hungary, and Germany such as Kretzmar, Kretzmera, Kretsamer, Kretsman, Kretschmar and Kretschmer. In Romania, the most common spelling variations of Kretzmer are Kretchmar, Kritzmar, Krizmar, and Kryzmar.
In the United States, Kretzmer is the most common variation of the name and is found in numerous states. Other variants such as Kretzman, Kretschmer, and Kretchmar can be found in smaller numbers. Similarly, in Canada and England, most Kretzmer families carry the same spelling, although there are some variations depending on how the name was adapted to the local dialect.
Despite their variations, all of these spellings of the Kretzmer surname have the same Ashkenazi Jewish origin and trace back to the same family, making them all derivatives of the same naming tradition.
Famous people with the name Kretzmer
- Herbert Kretzmer: Herbert Kretzmer was a British lyricist, born in South Africa in 1925. He wrote the lyrics for the long-running English-language musicals Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and The Phantom of the Opera.
- Koby Kretzmer: Koby Kretzmer is an Israeli journalist and translator who won the 2016 International Center for Transitional Justice's Human Rights Prize for his work in exposing human rights and international law violations.
- Oded Kretzmer: Oded Kretzmer is an Israeli economist and professor at Tel-Aviv University who is considered one of the country's leading economists. He is the recipient of the Israel Prize in Economics.
- Eitan Kretzmer: Eitan Kretzmer is an Israeli singer-songwriter and composer. He is a former member of the Israeli pop rock group Mashina and the current frontman of the band The Apples.
- Ofra Kretzmer: Ofra Kretzmer is an Israeli physician and daughter of the noted economist Oded Kretzmer. She is a pediatrician and was a visiting professor of medical ethics at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- Yoram Kretzmer: Yoram Kretzmer is an Israeli legal scholar. He is an expert on administrative and constitutional law, international law, and human rights. He serves as professor emeritus of law at Tel Aviv University.