Surname Pfennig - Meaning and Origin
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Unraveling Surprising Ancestry Tales From My Family Name Pfennig through an iGENEA DNA Test
My iGENEA DNA test journey began on a regular day, with an aim to explore the roots of my surname Pfennig. As anticipated, my DNA did link me to Western Europe, but the astounding revelations were just beginning.
G. Pfennig
read morePfennig: What does the surname Pfennig mean?
The last name of Pfennig is derived from the Middle High German word for "penny". The word Pfennig is a unit of currency that was in wide use across Europe in the 17th century and is known to have been in use as far back as the 9th century. The pennies that made up this unit varied in value and shape depending on the country of origin.
In modern times, the word Pfennig is less frequently used as a unit of currency, but it is still widespread as a last name. The name is most prevalent in Germany, where it is associated with a sense of national pride and the industriousness of the German people.
The name Pfennig is often used to indicate a person who is thrifty and hardworking. This is because the penny, being the smallest coin in circulation at the time, was seen as a symbol of thrift and frugality. A large portion of the population worked hard to save their money in order to make it stretch further, showing great fortitude and determination to provide for their families.
The last name of Pfennig is another reminder of the determination and hard work of the Germans who were able to survive and thrive in a harsh economic environment. They were resilient and resourceful in the face of adversity, traits which are still carried on in the people that bear the name today.
Order DNA origin analysisPfennig: Where does the name Pfennig come from?
The surname Pfennig is quite common today, particularly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the 2015 Deutsche Post report on surnames, it was the 95th-most-common surname in Germany and the 31st-most-common surname in Austria. It is particularly common in the southeastern corner of Germany, with particularly high concentrations of the name in the states of Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt.
In Switzerland, the Pfennig surname also stands out among some 18,500 other family names. Found in all parts of that country, the percentage of Pfennigs is highest in the German-speaking cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Thurgau, St. Gallen, and Schaffhausen.
Beyond German-speaking countries, the Pfennig surname can be found in various other Slavic countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, and further into the Americas. For example, there are quite a few Pfennig families that emigrated from Germany to the United States and Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the United States, the Pfennig surname is particularly common in Pennsylvania and New York.
While the precise origin of the Pfennig surname is uncertain, it is believed to have originally derived from the Middle High German word "pfenning", which was a name for a coin or small silver piece. The surname Pfennig is still commonly used in German-speaking countries today.
Variations of the surname Pfennig
The surname Pfennig is a German surname derived from the word “Pfennig”, which is a German coin. Variations of the legal surnames Pfennig and Pfenning can include: Fehnig, Fenig, Fenning, Fenigge, Pfehnig, Pfehning, Fennig, Fennige, Fenig, Fannig, Fannige, Pfanig, Pfanige, Pfeinig, and Pfeining.
Variations of the spelling of Pfennig can include Pennig, Pennigge, Phenig, Phenige, Phening, Pheninge, Pheinige, and Fennige. Other popular alternate spellings are Fenning, Pfening, and Fannig.
Variations of the surname Pfennig can also result in slightly different spellings, such as Pehnig, Phehnig, Penig, Penige, Penninig, Penninge, Pheinig, Fenhnig, Fanig, Fanige, and Phanig.
Surnames can also have regional varieties such as Pfeinle, Farehnig, Phaenig, Paenig, Fiene, and Phohnig which are found primarily in Austria, Switzerland, and southern Germany.
In the United States, the Pfennig surname was anglicized to Fennig, which is found primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.
The surname is also found in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, where the spelling has been modified to Pfennigk or Fehnigk. The spellings Fenask and Pfanask are also common in these countries.
In conclusion, the surname Pfennig has many variations and spellings in both Germany and the United States. These variations include Fehnig, Fenig, Fenning, Fenigge, Pfehnig, Pfehning, Fennig, Pfanig, Pfanige, Pfeinig, Fennige, Pennig, Pennigge, Phenig, Phenige, Phening, Pheninge, Pheinige, Penninig, Penninge, Pheinig, Fahnig, Fanig, Fanige, Phanig, Pehnig, Phehnig, Penig, Penige, Fenhnig, Pfeinle, Farehnig, Phaenig, Paenig, Fiene, Phohnig, Pfennigk, Fehnigk, Fenask, and Pfanask.
Famous people with the name Pfennig
- Andreas Pfennig: German basketball player.
- Flo Pfennig: German actress.
- Omri Pfennig: Israeli tennis player.
- Wolf-Dieter Pfennig: German football coach.
- Ricco Pfennig: German saxophonist.
- Frank Pfennig: German football player.
- Andreas Pfennig: German drummer.
- Susan Pfennig: American dance choreographer
- Stephan Pfennig: German footballer.
- Lars Pfennig: German N-Gage designer.
- Johann Baptist Pfennig: German musician.
- Christian Pfennig: German basketball player.
- Laura Pfennig: German painter.
- Holger Pfennig: German professor.
- Joseph Willibald Pfennig: German theologian and scholar.