Surname Feiten - Meaning and Origin

Feiten: What does the surname Feiten mean?

The last name Feiten is an occupational surname originating from Dutch and German regions. It is derived from the word “veit” which was used to refer to a servant or laborer with the primary meaning “servant of the court.” During the medieval period, when many European countries adopted a ranking social system, the term “veit” was used to refer to those employed by the nobility. Over time, the name “veit” became used to describe a person working as a farmer, herder, dairyman or whatever activity comprising of manual labour which was regarded low on the social ladder and lacked the prestige associated with noblemen. The name was then adopted into the Dutch and German languages as “Feiten” which equally meaning “servant of the court”.

In the modern day, the name “Feiten” still carries the same meaning. It is also occasionally used as an occupational surname, to denote someone employed in agricultural-related work or labour-intensive positions. As such, the name has a long and storied history, and has been in use in Europe for centuries.

Feiten: Where does the name Feiten come from?

The last name Feiten is most commonly found today in the Netherlands and Germany. Records of the surname date back to 14th century Germany, where its earliest known record is of Johannes von Feyten in 1345 and was found in an archive of goods of rebellious peasants in the Alansloh region of Westphalia.

In the Netherlands, the last name Feiten is believed to derive from Feiten, a small fishing village located in the southwestern part of the country. Between 1650 and 1750, many of the residents of Feiten relocated to other areas in the Netherlands, which explains why the last name is so widely found throughout the country today.

While still popular in the Netherlands, Germany, and other countries in the West, the last name Feiten can also be found in other areas around the world. For example, records of the surname can be found in Brazil, where many Dutch immigrants settled during the mid-19th century, as well as in other Dutch-influenced areas of the world such as South Africa and Indonesia. The last name Feiten can also be found in the United States, primarily among descendants of Dutch immigrants who settled in the Midwest during the 19th century.

Overall, the last name Feiten is most common today in the Netherlands and Germany. However, it can also be found in other areas of the world, including Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and the United States.

Variations of the surname Feiten

The surname Feiten is a relatively uncommon Dutch surname that has several variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin. The basic spelling is Feiten, but the surname can also be found as Feijten, Fijten, Fijtens, Feyten, Veiten, Veijten, and Veyten. These variations can be attributed to the difficulty associated with writing and pronouncing surnames in the Netherlands, as well as the different stages of language development.

The surname Feiten can be traced back to two distinct family branches— one from a small town in the Netherlands called Dura and one from the city Geldrop. The large majority of those who bear the Feiten name are related to the family from Dura. The people with this surname have a very old history in the Netherlands—some even hypothesize that the surname may be of German origin—and the name is becoming increasingly popular within the Netherlands from its recent influx of immigrants.

There is also a variant of the surname Feiten called Feyton, which is of German origin and is almost exclusively found in the northern Rhineland region of Germany. It is likely that the Feyton variant is derived from the original Dutch surname Feiten, as the two have similar phonetic pronunciations.

Finally, there is an extremely rare variant of the name Feiten called Francken. This is a Dutch surname of the same origin as Feiten and is prevalent in the Netherlands and Belgium. This variant is estimated to have had a total of only 150 bearers in the past 2000 years.

In conclusion, the Feiten surname has several variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin, both in the Netherlands and in other countries as well. These various spellings are due to the difficulty associated with writing and pronouncing surnames in the Netherlands, the different stages of language development, and the influx of immigrants to the Netherlands in recent years.

Famous people with the name Feiten

• Wijnandus Johannes Feiten (1846-1915): Dutch politician, diplomat and civil servant.
• Hans-Peter Jürgen Feiten (born 1960): German footballer.
• Guus Feiten (born 1979): Dutch football coach.
• Joannes Henricus Feiten (1881-1961): Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church from 1943 to 1961.
• Christian Feiten (born 1945): German philosopher and theologian.
• Sibylle Feiten (born 1956): German businesswoman and philanthropist.
• Margareta Feiten (1852-1917): German sculptor.
• Guy Feiten (born 1948): Belgian musician.
• João Artur Murilo Feiten (born 1990): Brazilian footballer.
• Kurt Feiten (1902-1945): German Wehrmacht officer in World War II.

Other surnames

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