Surname Klinghammer - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'K'
Klinghammer: What does the surname Klinghammer mean?
Klinghammer is a German surname meaning “hammer of/from/by the cliffs.” The surname has origins in the Middle High German words “Klinge” (cliff) and “hammer” (hammer).
Klinghammer is primarily associated with the regions of the Karst in Germany, Austria, and Northeastern Italy, and is an occupational surname for someone who lived in or near the cliffs and worked as a stonemason or carver, using a hammer or chisel to carve intricate designs into stone structures.
The surname can be further broken down into two distinct groups–Klinghammer and Klingenhammer. The first is a patronymic name, with the first name Klinghen or Klinghenmann (“son of Klinge”) derived from the Middle High German given name Klingen. The second is a locative surname, indicating someone who lived near or within the area of the Karst, where hammering was likely a common activity.
In modern times, families with the Klinghammer surname still inhabit the Karst region, primarily working in stone masonry, carpentry, and other building trades. Those who left to immigrate to America generally took up similar trades and brought their unique skills to bolster American industry.
Order DNA origin analysisKlinghammer: Where does the name Klinghammer come from?
The last name Klinghammer is primarily found in Germany, with a small number of people bearing the name originating from other European countries. The first recorded Klinghammers come from what is now Germany in the mid-sixteenth century. Since then, the Klinghammer name has spread across Europe, though it remains chiefly a German name.
In modern Germany, the Klinghammer name can mostly be found in the south-west of the country. This includes cities and villages in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Thuringia.
Outside of Germany, there is a smattering of Klinghammers in the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, and Switzerland. In the United States, there is a significantly larger population of Klinghammers, mostly descending from immigrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Evidence suggests that some Klinghammers were also amongst the early settlers of North America.
The Klinghammer name continues to thrive in Germany and Europe, and those who emigrated to the United States have spread the name far and wide.
Variations of the surname Klinghammer
The surname Klinghammer is a German topographic name, derived from the Middle High German klingen meaning to ring or to resound and the Old High German hammari meaning stone. Variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin include Klingenhammer, Klinghamme, Klingemann, Klingamann, Klingman, Klingmann, Kliinghamer, Klynghexmmer, Klinghamer, Klinkenhammer, and Klienghamer.
Klinghammer originally referred to someone who lived by an area of stone that made a ringing sound when it was struck. Later, the surname was used to denote someone who made tools or weapons from the stone, such as hammers. The oldest mention of the name dates from the 1200s, when one Ortolf Kierlantman or Klingeman appeared in a record from the feudal state of Mannheim in southwest Germany.
The name Klinghammer is now found most commonly in Germany, where it is the 340th most common surname of almost 3 million names. It arrived in the U.S. with German immigrants in the 1800s, with the first record of the Klinghammer family in the country occurring in Pennsylvania. It is now a relatively rare name, with around 300 people in the U.S. bearing the surname according to the 2010 census.
The surnames derived from Klinghammer all carry the same meaning and origin, making it simple to recognize families that have descended from the same original person.
Famous people with the name Klinghammer
- Dr. Juliane (Klinghammer) Diller: renowned German ethologist.
- Evelyn Klinghammer: Austrian equestrian and Olympian.
- Philippe Klinghammer: French former professional basketball player.
- Ulrich Klinghammer: renowned German evolutionary biologist.
- Nick Klinghammer: American television producer and director.
- Anna Klinghammer: German historian and research scholar.
- Johannes Klinghammer: German conductor and composer.
- Anja Klinghammer: German actress.
- Alexander Klinghammer: prominent German politician.
- Caius Bartolomeus Klinghammer: German linguist and poet.
- Alexander Klinghammer: prominant German economist.
- Christian Klinghammer: German fighter ace of World War II.
- Joanna Klinghammer: German athlete and Olympian.
- Jeannette Klinghammer: German elite athlete.
- Josef Klinghammer: World War II medical researcher and scientist.
- Gerd Klinghammer: German rower.
- Elisabetta Klinghammer: Spanish professional tennis player.
- Johannes Heinrich Klinghammer: Austrian alpine skier.
- Laura Klinghammer: German actress and singer.
- Ursula Klinghammer: German writer and editor.