Surname Brotkorb - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'B'
Brotkorb: What does the surname Brotkorb mean?
Brotkorb is a German surname, originating from the Middle High German words “brot” (“bread”) and “korb” (“basket”). This suggests that the family line may have owned a bakery business, or may have been market professionals who sold freshly baked goods. Other theories suggest that the family may have been bakers themselves, or that they worked in related professions such as being millers and deliverymen, or even that the surname came about through an association with a particular site in which the family baked bread.
Given the spelling of the name, it is believed that the Brotkorb family has been in existence in Germany for several centuries at least. Historically, names typically indicated a person’s profession, social class, or residence, so the use of the phrase “bread basket” suggests that the Brotkorb family was involved in the bread business for generations.
As with many common German surnames, the origin and meaning of Brotkorb is not known for certain. The different theories surrounding its source suggest that the family line has a long and rich history, with its roots in baking bread and other related professions. The name likely remains in use today in Germany by those descended from the original Brotkorbs.
Order DNA origin analysisBrotkorb: Where does the name Brotkorb come from?
The last name Brotkorb is a German surname. It is most commonly found in Germany today, mainly in the northern and western parts of the country. It is also present in other German-speaking countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
The surname ‘Brotkorb’ literally means ‘bread basket’ in German, and is thought to refer to someone who was a maker or seller of baskets or containers for holding bread. It is thought that the origin of the surname can be traced back to the medieval period in Germany, where such containers were common items.
Today, the surname Brotkorb is especially common in the area of Lower Saxony, where it is one of the top thirty most-common surnames. It is also fairly common in other areas such as Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, and North-Rhine Westphalia.
In addition to Germany, the surname Brotkorb is found in large numbers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. Most of the people with this surname in these countries are the descendants of people who migrated from Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Today, many people with the Brotkorb surname continue to make their living as makers and sellers of traditional German bread baskets. However, there are also a large number of people in the USA and elsewhere who changed their surname to Brotkorb many years ago, either in trying to maintain cultural links with their German ancestors or simply to make their original surname sound more interesting.
Variations of the surname Brotkorb
Brotkorb is an uncommon German surname, mostly clustered in the areas of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Variants of this surname include Brotkorper, Brotkoppler, Brotkopf, Brotkopfmacher and Brotkopfer.
The spelling of the Brotkorb surname may vary depending on dialect or era. Some alternate spellings include Brotcourb, Brotcourf, Brotkoerb, Brodcorb, Brotkopb, Brotkopbf, and Brotkoufb.
Brotkorb may also be a variant of the surnames Bratkorb, Brechtkorb, Bräutkorb, Breitkorb, Berchtkorb, Böcklkorb, and Braunmillerkorb. These variants originated in Germany, denoting a person who was the keeper of a basket or tray (Korb) used in harvesting wheat, a binder of straw, or a maker of wheat-brooms (Brotbesen).
The Brotkorb surname may also have derived from Broekhuis or Broekhals, a Dutch surname which means "dweller in a marsh-covered house."
Although the Brotkorb surname can be found in a variety of different spellings, all variants refer to the same German root and were likely originally derived from a trade or a geographical place of origin.
Famous people with the name Brotkorb
- Alex Brotkorb: American actress and activist based in Minneapolis.
- Matt Brotkorb: American state legislator and former assistant minority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
- Bill Brotkorb: Former American basketball coach at the collegiate level and for the Detroit Pistons.
- Steffen Brotkorb: Swiss physicist, scientific director at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute.
- Anja Brotkorb: German journalist, author, and media professor.
- Dipesh Brotkorb: Dutch football manager and former player.
- Ariane Brotkorb: French actress and film producer, best known for her role in “Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra”.
- Juliana Brotkorb: Brazilian singer and songwriter, best known for “A Festa”.
- Marcus Brotkorb: German film director, known for his documentary films.
- Alphonse Brotkorb: American poet and writer, author of "The Fall and Rise of the Sun Kings".