Zimmerman (surname)

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For other uses of "Zimmerman", see Zimmerman (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Zimmermann (disambiguation) or Zimmermann (surname).
Zimmerman
Origin
Language(s)Germanic
MeaningCarpenter, "room builder"
Region of originGermany
Other names
Variant form(s)See the navigation box at the bottom

Zimmerman is a surname variant of the German Zimmermann, meaning "carpenter". The modern German terms for carpenter are Zimmerer, Tischler, or Schreiner, but Zimmermann is still used. It is also commonly associated with Ashkenazi Jews.

Zimmer in literal German means "room" or archaically a chamber within a structure; it is cognate with the English word "timber". The German mann means "man" or "worker". Combining the two German words, one gets "a worker of wood", or, literally translated, "room man" or "room worker".[1][2][3]

Within the United States, it is ranked as the 441st-most common surname.[4]

German names were regularly Anglicized with immigration. Surnames were often translated, so in this case, Zimmerman would become Carpenter. Later generations also altered their original family names frequently after being in the United States many years.

Zimmerman may refer to:

People[edit]

Fictional characters[edit]

Florence Zimmerman, a character in "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" Eric Zimmerman, a character in the book "The House in which..."

Places in the United States[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ U.S. Census Bureau; "Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last"; published May 9, 1995; <"Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last". Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2006.>
  2. ^ Combined from several sources including: Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996 by Barnes & Noble Books, and Concise Oxford Dictionary - 10th Edition by Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ "carpenter", Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper, 2001-2010, accessed April 13, 2010.
  4. ^ U.S. Census Bureau; "Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last"; published May 9, 1995; <"Frequently Occurring First Names and Surnames From the 1990 Census, (Table) Name Files dist.all.last". Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2006.>
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