Surname Diem - Meaning and Origin
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Diem: What does the surname Diem mean?
The last name Diem is of German origin. It is believed to be derived from the word "diem" which means "days" in German. The name is derived from an Old German word, "dimer meant “days” or “time”, and is believed to refer to a person who kept a record of days and dates. It could also be an occupational name, referring to those who worked in the counting or calculation of days and dates, including time-keepers, calendar makers, or clock makers.
The name may have also been used as a locational surname, referring to someone who originally came from Diem, a village in the German state of Saxony.
Surname variations of Diem include Diemer, Deemer, Dehim, Deim, Diehm, Diemel, and Diemling. The name is popular in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, but is also found in other parts of Europe as well as in the United States and Canada.
The name Diem is an example of how many surnames were derived from the life, culture, and language of the people who first bore and passed them down through the generations. While the actual meaning of the surname may have been lost in the mists of time, the name is still carried on in many parts of the world today.
Order DNA origin analysisDiem: Where does the name Diem come from?
The last name Diem is commonly found today in German-speaking Europe and North America. It is most commonly found in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, as well as areas of the United States like New York, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The surname is especially prevalent in Bavaria, mainly in the rural areas of the south.
The origin of the name is traced to Dutch diem ("thief, brigand"), and it is believed to have been bestowed on an ancestor who displayed artistic or thieving skills. Further, the French-speaking Francophone states, such as Luxembourg and eastern France, also are home to many people bearing the last name Diem.
In the United States, the surname Diem was first recorded in New York, with a small number of bearers living in Pennsylvania. The group in Pennsylvania represent the secondary German migration from the Rhineland-Palatinate area. The majority of Diem families in the US settled in the Great Lakes region during the mid-19th century. This brief migration was triggered by the nativist sentiment of the time, which caused sentiments of anti-German sentiment among the living in these areas.
Overall, the last name Diem is most commonly found today in its original German-speaking homelands, as well as the United States. The name has seen huge growth due to migration during the 19th century, and is now one of the most popular surnames in German-speaking Europe and the United States.
Variations of the surname Diem
The surname Diem is of German, Swiss and Danish origin. It comes from the Middle High German word "diem" which means "judge". It is most likely a reference to a position of authority.
Variants of the surname Diem include Deem, Deim, and Deym. Spelling variations of Diem can include Dram, Drem, Dreim, Dräm, and Draem.
The surname Diem is often found in the United States, particularly in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but also in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Texas. It is also found in Germany, Switzerland and, to a lesser extent, Denmark.
It is also quite common to find different surnames of the same origin. Diem is related to names like Diet, Dieter, Deiter, Ditter and Dithmann. The names Timm, Diermeier, Dömling, Döring and Droste are also related. There are also some variant spellings, such as Timme, Teim, Teims, Teimann, Tiemers, Tieb, and Tiebert.
The surnames Teitel, Teipel, Tietz and Teeple are also related to the Diem name. All of these surnames are derived from the German word "diem" and refer to a person who was a judge or carried out a judicial function.
Famous people with the name Diem
- Ngo Dinh Diem: former President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1955: 1963).
- Jean-Claude Van Damme: Belgian actor and martial artist.
- Thuy Diem: Vietnamese actress.
- Laeticia Marie Laure Dieme: French journalist.
- Christian Diem: German actor.
- Auguste Charles Joseph Florent Joseph Diem: French general, engineer, and politician.
- Johannes Paul Diem: Austrian sculptor.
- Christopher Diem: German contemporary artist.
- Harald Diem: Austrian politician.
- Florian Diem: Austrian television personality.
- Carly Diem: American singer-songwriter.
- Wilfried Diem: German composer and music producer.
- Lue Diem: American sports reporter, anchor, and reporter.
- Victoria Diem: Peruvian fashion designer.