Surname Lensing - Meaning and Origin

Lensing: What does the surname Lensing mean?

The last name Lensing has Germanic origins and is derived from the Middle High German word “Lenz” which refers to a person who lived in low-lying areas or at the ends of a ridge. This likely referred to a farmer or someone who worked in agricultural fields. It is speculated that this name was used as a nicknames or was specific to a region where the Lenz family lived.

It is also possible that Lensing is rooted in Low German and could be a variation of the name Lender. This is a more popular name, meaning a lender or borrower depending on the context, and has more of a direct reference than Lenz.

The spelling and pronunciation of the name has changed over time and can vary across regions. For example, in various parts of Germany, the name is pronounced “lens-ing” or “laynz-ing.” In the Netherlands and Flanders, the name is pronounced “len-sing.”

Some of the most common variants of Lensing are Lensink, Lensingh, Lensinkh, Lensinge, Lemming, Lense and Lenz. The first recorded use of the surname “Lensing” was in 1331 in Germany.

The name is most common in the lower Rhineland, particularly in Aachen and other cities near the Belgian border. It is also a popular surname in the Netherlands, where many people bearing the name live in the province of Friesland. Lensing is also quite common in the United States, particularly in Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking states like Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Lensing: Where does the name Lensing come from?

The last name Lensing is most commonly found in both Germany and the Netherlands.

In Germany, records of the name stretch back to the 1700s and it is thought to be of Dutch origin. In the 19th century, the name was mostly clustered in the north-western Rhineland and the Lower Rhine province, as well as various other regions in Germany, many of which had close ties to the Netherlands and may have been part of its historical territories. Today, the name Lensing is still prevalent in the long-settled parts of Germany, such as North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

In the Netherlands, the Lensing name appears to have originated there in the early 1600s. Today it is still one of the more common last names in the country, especially in its more populated areas such as North Holland, South Holland, Utrecht, and Friesland.

Outside of Germany and the Netherlands, the Lensing name can be found in various other European countries, as well as countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, where people of Dutch descent have emigrated.

Variations of the surname Lensing

The surname Lensing is a German and Dutch surname rooted in ‘Lenz’, meaning ‘lion’ or ‘brave one’ in ancient Germanic cultures. The name is thought to have originally referred to a brave or strong individual, but over the years has spread, spawning numerous variants of different spellings and spellings.

The variant spellings for the Lensing surname include Lensink, Lensochin, Lenning, Lensken, Lensich, Lensch, Lansing, Lensant, Lensen, Lensen and Lensingen.

Surnames related in origin to the Lensing include Lenze, Lensar, Lenzar, Lentsch, Lantz, and Lentz.

For Dutch-speaking countries, such as the Netherlands, Flanders and Suriname, the variant spelling of Lensing is Lenzing. Lensing is a small yet common surname in the Netherlands where records date back to 1774.

For English-speaking countries, the personal name has become Lansing, Lentz and Lantz, with records in America dating back to colonial times.

In France, variants of Lensing are Lenton, Lentz, and Lentin. The spelling Lenzin is also found in France.

In Germany, the Slaibach and Thuringen regions are the original home of the Lensing family, and variants are Lessing, Lintzen, Lenzin and Lintzen.

Lensing is a rare surname, but the variants spellings and surnames related to the Lensing suggest a long and interesting history that reaches both far and wide.

Famous people with the name Lensing

• Lori Lensing: NCAA women's basketball coach
• Paul Lensing: Jesuit priest who served as the 26th president of Creighton University
• Philip Lensing: member of the Washington state House of Representatives
• Charles Lensing: American biochemist and professor of medicine at the University of Iowa
• Carol Lensing: American actress and comedian
• Jan Lensing: German contemporary and figurative painter
• Kollin Lensing: German football player
• Ralf Lensing: German classical scholar and philologist
• Nazi Lensing: German film actress
• Annekatrin Lensing: German psychologist and writer
• Mies Lensing: Dutch political scientist and historian
• David Lensing: American film producer and director

Other surnames

Lensink