ZIEGEL Origin of surname
ZIEGEL, ZIEGELMAN, ZEAGLEMANN, ZIEGLER
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a Hebrew acronym, that is a name created from the initial letters of a Hebrew phrase, and which refers to a relative, lineage or occupation. For example, between 1787 and the 1830s, authorities in central and Eastern Europe began to force Jewish families to adopt fixed hereditary family names. Many Jews then formed European-sounding family names that were in fact Hebrew acronyms. The use of acronymics is an old Jewish custom. Famous rabbis and sages such as Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) and Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, known as Maimonides) were generally referred to by acronyms based on their Hebrew titles and names.
Literally "brick" in German, Ziegel and the other names in this group can be occupational names for a "bricklayer or constructor". However, these Jewish family names are usually based on the name Segal, an abbreviation of the Hebrew 'Segan Leviyyah', which means "assistant of the priest", the family name Segal was originally a function and title. Changes in vocalization, and the trend of adjusting to the languages of the ethnic majorities among whom Jews lived in the Diaspora, produced variants such as Sagal and Sigal. Transliteration also led to forms which changed the meaning of the original name, for example Segel, the German for "sail", and Siegel, the German term for "seal". There are several apparently 'meaningless' or artificial names whose origins go back to Segal, among them Ziegelbaum, literally "brick tree" in German; Zygelberg, a Polish spelling of the German Ziegelberg, that is "brick mountain", and Segelbaum, whose literal meaning in German is "sail tree". A remarkable combination is represented by the compound name Seglersiegler, literally "sailor-sealer" in German, comprising two derivatives of Segal. Szegal is a spelling variant found in Hungary and Poland, and Chagall in France. Segalot is a French form derived from the Slavic Segalovitz, that is "Segal's son". The ending "-man(n)" in Zeaglemann and Ziegelman could be an abbreviation of the biblical personal name Menachem. In the early 20th century Ziegel is recorded as a Jewish family name with the German soldier Robert Ziegel who died in World War I. Ziegler is recorded in the 20th century as a Jewish family name with the German soldier Walter Ziegler who died in World War I, and with the Polish soldier Herman Ziegler who was killed in action fighting the Germans during World War II.
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a Hebrew acronym, that is a name created from the initial letters of a Hebrew phrase, and which refers to a relative, lineage or occupation. For example, between 1787 and the 1830s, authorities in central and Eastern Europe began to force Jewish families to adopt fixed hereditary family names. Many Jews then formed European-sounding family names that were in fact Hebrew acronyms. The use of acronymics is an old Jewish custom. Famous rabbis and sages such as Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) and Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, known as Maimonides) were generally referred to by acronyms based on their Hebrew titles and names.
Literally "brick" in German, Ziegel and the other names in this group can be occupational names for a "bricklayer or constructor". However, these Jewish family names are usually based on the name Segal, an abbreviation of the Hebrew 'Segan Leviyyah', which means "assistant of the priest", the family name Segal was originally a function and title. Changes in vocalization, and the trend of adjusting to the languages of the ethnic majorities among whom Jews lived in the Diaspora, produced variants such as Sagal and Sigal. Transliteration also led to forms which changed the meaning of the original name, for example Segel, the German for "sail", and Siegel, the German term for "seal". There are several apparently 'meaningless' or artificial names whose origins go back to Segal, among them Ziegelbaum, literally "brick tree" in German; Zygelberg, a Polish spelling of the German Ziegelberg, that is "brick mountain", and Segelbaum, whose literal meaning in German is "sail tree". A remarkable combination is represented by the compound name Seglersiegler, literally "sailor-sealer" in German, comprising two derivatives of Segal. Szegal is a spelling variant found in Hungary and Poland, and Chagall in France. Segalot is a French form derived from the Slavic Segalovitz, that is "Segal's son". The ending "-man(n)" in Zeaglemann and Ziegelman could be an abbreviation of the biblical personal name Menachem. In the early 20th century Ziegel is recorded as a Jewish family name with the German soldier Robert Ziegel who died in World War I. Ziegler is recorded in the 20th century as a Jewish family name with the German soldier Walter Ziegler who died in World War I, and with the Polish soldier Herman Ziegler who was killed in action fighting the Germans during World War II.