Surname von der Horst - Meaning and Origin
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von der Horst: What does the surname von der Horst mean?
The last name "von der Horst" is a German toponymic surname, which means "from the wooded area". It is derived from the German word "horst", meaning a grove of trees, particularly of pines. The people who originally bore the name inhabited or were near a wooded area or an area with a lot of pine trees.
The origins of the last name "von der Horst" are related to the times who predated the enlargement of the German city-states and the religious reformation. During this period, people used to bear the last names of the places that they lived in, and "von der Horst" was just one such common name.
The earliest known mention of the name dates back to the 10th century, when one Rudolf von der Horst is mentioned as a burgrave of the city of Breslau, in Lower Silesia. During medieval period, the designation ‘von’ was used to denote people belonging to the nobility or landed gentry in Germany. As the von der Horst’s were a wealthy and influential family, they eventually recorded their last name in several parts of Europe.
Today, the von der Horst family is considered an old and prominent German family, and their name can mainly be found in parts of Germany, the United States, Holland, and other European countries.
Order DNA origin analysisvon der Horst: Where does the name von der Horst come from?
The last name von der Horst is a German-language surname derived from the German preposition "von" which means "of" or "from" and the name "Horst", a German word meaning "wooded hill". Today, this name is most common in German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, as well as amongst the large German diaspora populations in North America and elsewhere, due to emigration from the above-mentioned countries in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In Germany, the surname von der Horst is most commonly found in cities near the border with the Netherlands, particularly in cities such as Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Nuremberg.
In the United States, the surname von der Horst is also present due to German immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, with many of those immigrants coming from South Germany. Today, the surname can be found in most major cities, particularly those that used to be heavily associated with German-American populations, such as Chicago, New York, and Milwaukee.
In the United Kingdom, the surname von der Horst is usually found in cities such as London, Manchester, and Liverpool where formerly there were large numbers of German sailors and soldiers who fought or lived in those areas during World War II.
Overall, the surname von der Horst is still relatively common today, though perhaps not as widely distributed as it was at the height of its immigration to new lands during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Variations of the surname von der Horst
Von der Horst is a German surname, derived from a topographic name for someone who lived near thicket or forest, derived from the German words "horst," meaning wooded hill, and "von," meaning from or of. The surname is also seen in Dutch form as Van Der Horst.
Variant spellings of the surname Von der Horst include Van der Horst, Von der Horsts, Von Derhorst, Vandehorst, Vonderhorst, Verhorst, Vandehorst, Vonderhorsts and Von der Horsthoff. Derivative surnames of Von der Horst include Ords, Orts, Ortt and Ortes.
The Holland-origin surname of Van Der Horst or Van der Horst also has variant spellings such as Vandehorst, Van de Horst, VOLKERHORST, VANDERHORST and Van Deorst. Derivative surnames of Van der Horst include Derhorst, Horst, DerHors and DerHorsen.
The German spelling of the surname may have been shortened to Horst, with such variant spellings as Horests, Herst, Hersht, Horstman, Hurst and Hurstman. Derivative surnames of Horst include Horstman, Horsen, Horstmann, Horn and Herrst.
In addition to these variations, some families who emigrated to America changed their name for a multitude of reasons. These surnames may include Herisse, Deroche, Horridge, Herschberger, Hursey, Hertz, Hourissey and Hurstfield.
Famous people with the name von der Horst
- Alexander von der Horst: former professional football player, played in the German Bundesliga, now a professional coach.
- Heinrich von der Horst: a German physicist and botanist who specialized in medical botany and performed well-known research in plant physiology.
- Christian von der Horst: German chemist and professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Bavaria in Munich.
- Paul von der Horst: German lawyer renowned for his works in international law.
- Graf von der Horst: German nobleman who served in the Prussian army from 1813 to 1815 during the Napoleonic wars.
- Erich von der Horst: founder and CEO of WealthByDesign, a financial services company specializing in estate planning and retirement products.
- Richard von der Horst: German-American banker and entrepreneur, best known for his work in banking and finance.
- Friederich von der Horst: German composer, known for his innovative piano works and early romantism.
- Hubert von der Horst: German architect, most notable for his influence in the modernist style of architecture.
- Max von der Horst: German filmmaker, known for his work in documentaries and experimental cinema.