Surname Sinterhauf - Meaning and Origin
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Sinterhauf: What does the surname Sinterhauf mean?
The last name Sinterhauf is German and is derived from the Middle High German words 'sinte/sinten' meaning 'to meander', and 'harf/harfel' meaning 'barley'. Thus, the surname literally translates to 'meandering barley'. It is believed to have originated from a toponymic element, describing a place where barley was harvested or grew in abundance.
The toponymic form could have been derived from an individual’s place of origin or residence. It may have been used to distinguish someone from a village of the same name or from someone who lived near a meander or waterway. Alternatively, it may have been an occupational name for someone who harvested barley or processed it into beer.
The name is commonly found throughout Germany and Austria, and has been reported by 19th century travel and literature as a favorite form of name recognition for most rural South and East German families. It is a fairly common surname, but is not found in any major reference book.
Today, the descendants of the original bearers of Sinterhauf are scattered throughout the world. Some have adopted more modernized forms of spelling, such as Sinthern, Sianter and Sinther, while others keep the traditional spelling. No matter how it is spelled, the history of the distinguished Sinterhauf family is rich in German culture and tradition.
Order DNA origin analysisSinterhauf: Where does the name Sinterhauf come from?
The last name Sinterhauf is common today mostly throughout Europe, particularly in Germany and its surrounding countries. It is a last name of German origin, derived from two separate parts. The first part of the name is ‘Sint,’ the Germanic-based noun for ‘saint’ or ‘holy’. The second part, ‘erhauf’, is a variant of ‘hauf’ which is shared among a number of Germanic dialects and means ‘hill’ or ‘higher place’.
In Germany, the name is most plentiful in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. The highest concentration of the Sinterhauf surname is in Karlsruhe, the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located to the south of Stuttgart.
In the Netherlands, the name is most common in the heavily German-influenced northern provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. Elsewhere in Europe, the surname can also be found in significant numbers in Poland, Russia and the United Kingdom. Because of German immigration to the United States and Canada in the 19th century, Sinterhauf is widely scattered throughout both countries, with large pockets in the states of North Dakota, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas and Florida.
Variations of the surname Sinterhauf
Sinterhauf is a surname with Germanic origins. The common spelling is Sintehauf or Sinterhauf, but the spelling of two f's at the end, Sinterhauff, is also used in certain family lines. Some of its variants include Sintehauf, Sensorhauf, Sintnerhauf, Sinterhof, Sintnerhof, Synterhauf, Sintnerhoff, and Sinterhoff.
Surnames with similar spellings of the same origin stem from the same ancestral source, such as Sintuhof, Sintuhauf, Sanderhauf, Sinderhauf, Sinterhof, Seegertshauf, Sensehauf, Sintnerhof, Sintuhof, and Sondershauf. Similarly, the same family lines may also use the surnames Seithoff, Seithauf, Sinthoff, and Sintcoff.
The given name Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus in English, was derived from the surname Sinterhauf. The legend of Santa Claus was derived from Saint Nicholas or Saint Niklas in German, and Saint Niklas was born in the city of Myra in modern-day Turkey. Saint Niklas became synonymous with Sinterklaas and the patron saint of children. This gives a clue to the origin of the surname, and the historical significance of it.
Overall, it is hard to find the origin of the surname Sinterhauf. However, it is interesting to see how the various spellings and surnames evolved and how people in different parts of the world adopted them. It is likely that the origin of the surname comes from somewhere in Germany, and the various spellings and surnames that have developed can serve as guides for tracing family lines.
Famous people with the name Sinterhauf
- Sarah Sinterhauf: An Austrian professional volleyball player, who has been with the Austrian women's national team since 2017 and plays for the Hypo Tirol AlpenVolleys Volleyball club.
- Sigi Sinterhauf: A German former football midfielder who spent most of his career playing for Eintracht Frankfurt.
- Robert Sinterhauf: An Austrian ice hockey goaltender who played 25 seasons for the Austrian National League team.
- Dieter Sinterhauf: An Austrian former bobsledder who competed in the two-man event at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
- Robert D. Sinterhauf: An American entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of the SureTec Insurance Companies, a property and casualty insurance group.
- Maurizio Sinterhauf: An Italian former alpine skier who competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics.
- Vitus Sinterhauf: An Austrian former alpine skier who competed in the 1974, 1978, and 1982 Winter Olympics.
- Christian Sinterhauf: An Austrian former footballer who played for several Austrian clubs as well as the Austrian national team.