Surname Gröning - Meaning and Origin
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Gröning: What does the surname Gröning mean?
The last name Gröning is of German origin and is an occupational name for someone who worked as a farmer or a small landowner. The word Gröning is derived from the German word grünen which means “to cultivate” or “to till the earth.” This surname likely acquired by an ancestor who was employed in agriculture. The name was likely common among landowners in the middle ages, and has slowly been adopted as a surname throughout Europe, although it is most common in Germany and Scandinavia.
The surname Gröning is associated with one of the oldest known coats of arms - the Gröninger pedigree which dates back to 1375! As far as we know, the line of Gröningers originated in the small German kingdom of Swabia which was an independent region for much of the middle ages before eventually becoming part of the German Empire in 1871.
Overall, the last name Gröning likely has its roots in Germany and is associated with a long line of German farmers and landowners. The Gröninger pedigree is one of the oldest known coats of arms in Germany and the line of Gröningers originated in the small German kingdom of Swabia. The name is also associated with the German word grünen, which means “to cultivate” or “to till the earth.”
Order DNA origin analysisGröning: Where does the name Gröning come from?
The last name Gröning is most commonly found today in Germany, especially in the northern and eastern regions. The meaning of the name itself is derived from the German word “Groninger” which is of Dutch-Frisian origin and translates to mean “greening” or “verdant.” This is likely a reference to the agricultural land found in many of those areas. Over the centuries, many of those who bore the name of Gröning have likely engaged in farming, with some making their way across Europe and settling in other countries.
For example, many German immigrants bearing the name Gröning or its variants arrived in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries during the great waves of immigration, a large part of it settling in the Midwestern states. Today, there is a strong presence of the Gröning family name in the U.S. states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Additionally, the surname can also be found in countries neighboring Germany such as Austria, the Netherlands, and France as well as in Argentina.
The Gröning surname is sometimes seen in its variants, such as Groningen, Groning, and Groening. Today, it is more often associated with the German spelling and pronunciation as evidenced by its presence in Germany and other German-speaking countries.
Variations of the surname Gröning
The surname Gröning (also spelt Groning, Groninger, and Growning) is of Germanic origin. It is derived from the words "gron" or "grian", meaning green or grass.
Variants of the name include Graening, Groninger (or Gruninger), and Grunig. Variations appear in spellings of many surnames in different languages, due to the difficulty of translating the original language into the language of the country in which the surname first appeared.
The variants of Gröning are most commonly seen in countries around Germany and the Low Countries, especially Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It was likely taken to these countries by immigrants leaving Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the United States, the variants Grunig and Growning are the most common.
The surname Gröning is still relatively rare today, but there are a number of notable people with the surname, including Carl Johann Gröning, a German theologian who lived in the 17th century; Friedrich Wigard Gröning, a German mathematician of the 19th century; and the well-known physicist Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, whose grandmother was a Gröning.
In summary, the variants, spellings, and surnames of Gröning are Graening, Groninger (or Gruninger), Grunig, Growning, and Planck. These represent a wide variety of origins and languages, all of which can trace their roots back to the Germanic language.
Famous people with the name Gröning
- Reiner Gröning: Reiner Gröning was a German Nazi SS officer and bookkeeper during WWII. His contribution to the Holocaust made him a target of numerous lawsuits, investigations, and trials, the most famous of which was the 2015 Hamburg State Court trial against him for his complicity in the murder of 300,000 people at Auschwitz.
- Klaus Gröning: Klaus Gröning was a German artist and sculptor who was known for his ambitious, politically charged art installations. He was socially active in a variety of causes that included the 1968 German student revolt movement, the opposition the Vietnam War, and the fight for German environmental protection.
- Herman Gröning: Herman Gröning was an animal behaviorist active in the early 20th century. He conducted various animal behavior experiments during his career, including studies on intelligence, instinct, and behavior in animals.
- Katja Gröning: Katja Gröning is a German-American film director, whose award-winning films include Tore Tanzt, Aus dem Nichts, and The End of the World. Her films often explore themes of identity, gender, and violence.
- Erich Gröning: Erich Gröning was a highly successful German athlete who competed in the javelin competition. He set a world record in the late 1920s and went on to become a coach and trainer after his retirement from competition.