Surname Heerstrahs - Meaning and Origin
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Heerstrahs: What does the surname Heerstrahs mean?
The last name Heerstrahs is a German surname and is believed to have originated in the Lower Rhine region of Germany. It is derived from a Middle High German term meaning "lord's street," or the road leading to a lord's residence. This surname has been found in records dating back to the 1500s in the region.
The Heerstrahs family can be traced back to Johann Heerstrahs who was born around 1632 in Germany. He left Germany to seek his fortune in the American colonies and is believed to be the earliest known person with that surname in America. This indicates that the Heerstrahs family traveled from Germany to America in the 17th century and has since spread to different parts of the United States.
The Heerstrahs surname is still common today and can be seen in records like the U.S. census. It is possible the name has taken on variants such as Harstra, Herst, Harst, or Herz.
Overall, Heerstrahs is a German name that can be traced back to the Lower Rhine in Germany. It is likely that Johann Heerstrahs was the earliest known ancestor with this surname in America, indicating that the Heerstrahs family originated in Germany and traveled across the Atlantic to America in the 17th century. Today, the surname is still found in many areas of the United States, though it may have taken on different variations.
Order DNA origin analysisHeerstrahs: Where does the name Heerstrahs come from?
The last name Heerstrahs is most commonly found in the Netherlands today. It is an uncommon but not rare surname, and is most likely derived from German origins. In 1880 the name was recorded in records in the Netherlands and has since spread throughout the country. The records show that the earliest known Heerstrahs ancestor was living in the city of Groningen in the eighteenth century.
There is evidence to suggest that the name may have a more ancient origin than this, since it bears some similarity to names of German nobility. For instance, there are people with the similar sounding ‘Heerstrasse’ surname living in Germany today.
At present, the Heerstrahs surname is most common in the north and northeastern regions of the Netherlands, in places like Frisia, Groningen, and Drenthe. It is also seen throughout the rest of the country, in cities like Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Breda.
Because the Heerstrahs surname is not particularly common today, people with it may feel a sense of pride in their heritage. The Netherlands remains one of the few parts of Europe where a full fledged Dutch name can still be found. A Dutch heritage was a sign of respect long ago in Europe, and maintaining that respect is something to which today's Heerstrahs' can aspire.
Variations of the surname Heerstrahs
The surname Heerstrahs is an occupational surname of Dutch origin meaning "worker in the lord's fields". It is also spelled as Heerstra, Herstra, Herstraal, Heerstraal, Hertstraal, Heertstra, Herstrael and Heerstrale.
The surname is sometimes also found in different spellings among the Dutch diaspora such as Heerstrass, Heerstrauss, Herstrauss, Hertstrass and Heertstrass, which all originate from the Dutch ‘Heerstraal’. Common variants of Heerstrahs found in the Netherlands include Heerstras, Heertstras, Herstrippe and Hertstrijpe.
The surname also sometimes appears as variant spellings in the United States, such as Heerstrah, Heinstrass, Heinstrauss, Hinstrauss, Herstanes, Hertstrass, Holmesstraus and Holmesstraw among others.
The internet-based GenealogieOnline.nl family database has documented nearly 12,000 Heerstra/Heerstraal individuals in the Netherlands, spanning the whole 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Many of these have the spelling Heerstrahs or one of its variant spellings. Research into the surname has shown that it is most common in Zonder, North Brabant and Utrecht and its variants often occur in the same family.
The Heerstrahs surname is quite rare and it is believed that its variants are all derived from the same source, most likely a single ancestral family.
Famous people with the name Heerstrahs
- Julius Heerstrass: 19th century German composer.
- Max Heerstrass: World War I German General.
- Johann Heerstrass: German theologian.
- Fridolin Heerstrass: German chemist and physicist.
- Otto Heerstrass: German mathematician and academic.
- Simon Heerstrass: German sculptor and artist.
- Wilhelm Heerstrass: German architect and academic.
- Eduard Heerstrass: German civil engineer and engineer.
- Heinrich Heerstrass: German politician and lawyer.
- Reinhold Heerstrass: German industrialist.
- Annemarie Heerstrass: German humanist, philosopher and author.
- Otto Heerstrass (the Younger): German singer and composer.
- Marie Heerstrass: German actor.
- Karl Heerstrass: German actor and filmmaker.
- Carl Heerstrass: German sculptor and artist.
- Emmanuel Heerstrass: German Protestant church musician and composer.
- Herman Heerstrass: German sculptor.
- Daniel Heerstrass: German historian.
- Georgy Heerstrass: Soviet therapist and philosopher.
- Bernhard Heerstrass: German theologian.