Surname Kannegießer - Meaning and Origin
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Kannegießer: What does the surname Kannegießer mean?
The surname Kannegießer is an Ashkenazic Jewish name, so its roots can be found in Yiddish and German cultures. The name likely came from a combination of two words – ‘Kann’, meaning ‘cane’ and ‘Geister’, meaning ‘ghosts’. Thus, the literal meaning of the last name would be “cane-ghosts” or “ghost-canes”.
Given this, the surname likely has symbolic as well as literal meanings. It could be interpreted as a reference to an ancestor's profession – they were a “canemaker” or “stickmaker”, someone who manufactured canes. This could refer to literal sticks or canes, but could also refer to metaphorical canes, such as “guiding sticks” or “wisdom rods” which symbolically help and guide those who carry them.
Given this interpretation, the surname Kannegießer may then symbolize a family line of “wise-ones” or “support-givers”, or even “canemakers”. Each generation of this family line may have passed down these ancestral skills of wisdom, support, and cane-manufacturing, which would have been seen as important in the Ashkenazic culture.
Order DNA origin analysisKannegießer: Where does the name Kannegießer come from?
The last name Kannegießer is most commonly found today in Germany. It is a more common name in Southern and Western Germany, with a majority of bearers coming from the states of Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria. It is a German-language surname of habitation origin, derived from a house-name containing either the Slavic elements 'kan' (a vocabularized form of 'kon' meaning 'son') or 'grod' (meaning 'country'), or from the compound 'kam' (from Latin 'campa,' meaning 'field') and the Slavic suffix 'itz.' The surname became anglicized as 'Kannegießer' when German immigration to the United States began in the late 18th century. Some forms of the surname are now also found in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands, though they are uncommon.
Kannegießer is not an especially common surname today. It is estimated that less than 1,000 people in the United States carry the name, and the numbers in Europe are likely much lower. The most recent census of Germany in November 2019 recorded only 461 people in the country with the name.
Variations of the surname Kannegießer
The variants, spellings and surnames of Kannegießer are Kaningeser, Kuningesser, Cuningeser, Kinengeser, Cueningesser, Künengeser, Kaningesser, Koningeser, Kannigeser, Kaningeseer, Koninggesser, Kanengieser, Kahnigeser, Koninggeser, Kanengesser, Kaninggesser, Kininngeser, Koninggieser, Koningsser, Keneger, Cenengeser, and Kannegger.
Kannegießer is a German surname derived from a personal name, most likely derived from the initial element “Kanen-”. This initial element is derived from the Middle High German personal name "gan" meaning “boy”, meaning “son of Gan”. The ending -ing (meaning ‘son of’) and the suffix -er (locative) may be added to form a toponym, meaning “from the estate/town of Gan” or “person from the estate/town of Gan”. Thus, the surname Kannegießer means “person from the estate/town of Gan” or “descendant/son of Gan”.
The initial element “Kanen-” has also had a continuing legacy, taking variants such as Kaningeser, Kuningesser, Cuningeser, Kinengeser, Cueningesser, Kuenengeser, and Kaningesser over time. This is most likely because of the mutations occurring during the naming process due to typographical, geographical, and dialectical causes. This has caused spellings such as Kaningeser, Kuningesser, Cuningeser, Kinengeser, Cueningesser, Künengeser, and Kaningesser to emerge over time.
The same is true for the ending -eser/-er, which can be seen taking variants such as Koningeser, Kannigeser, Kaningeseer, Koninggesser, Kanengieser, Kahnigeser, Koninggeser, Kanengesser, Kaninggesser, Kininngeser, Koninggieser, Koningsser, Keneger and Cenengeser.
Most of these variants have been used interchangeably with Kannegießer, and they can all be traced back to a common ancestral root, meaning “person from the estate/town of Gan” or “descendant/son of Gan”.
Famous people with the name Kannegießer
- Eric Channing Kannegießer: Eric is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician who has starred in various films, such as American Reunion and Another Earth.
- Lillian Kannegießer: Lillian is an American journalist who has written extensively on such topics as politics, human rights, and women’s and LGBTQ issues for outlets like The Guardian and The Atlantic Monthly.
- Eunice Kannegießer: Eunice is a professor of sociology and the author of several books, including most recently, The Allure of Inequality: How Elite Schools Teach Students to Despise Everyone but the Rich.
- Albert Kannegießer: Albert is a German conductor and cellist who has won several awards, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2003.
- Mark Kannegießer: Mark is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose albums include 'Next Day' and 'Sparkle & Fade'.
- Jürgen Kannegießer: Jürgen is a professor of German studies and linguistics at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
- Rune Kannegießer: Rune is a Danish film director, cinematographer, and screenwriter whose films include 'Weekend Warrior' and 'Fate'.
- Gisela Kannegießer: Gisela is an Austrian mezzo-soprano who has recorded multiple operas and has received rave reviews from opera critics.
- Sabine Kannegießer: Sabine is a German philosopher and author whose books include 'The Ways of Reasoning: New Perspectives on the Logic of Argumentative Practices.'
- Mathias Kannegießer: Mathias is a Swiss politician who served as a member of the Swiss Council of States from 2011 to 2019.