DEUTSCH Origin of surname
DEUTSCH 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 toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
Deutsch means "German" in German. Originally, the surname was a personal nickname for a German Jew or his family, in a non-German environment. Terms identifying Jews from Germany or other German-speaking areas are current in numerous European languages. They include Teutsch(er) and Deutsch(-er), that come from the old High German Thiudisc/Tiutisc, which the Romans transformed into the Latin Theotiseus/Theotises/Teutisca and the Italians adjusted to Tedesci/Tedesche/Tedesco. Several synonyms for German are based on Alemannen, in Latin Alamanni. A west Germanic tribe, called Swabians by their neighbours on the Elbe river, they invaded Gaul and northern Italy in the 3rd century and settled in Rhineland, Alsace and Switzerland. In Romance-language countries, derivatives of Alamanni, among them the French Allemand, the Spanish Aleman and the Italian Alleman(n)o, became synonyms for "German". The first Jews to reach Germany went there in the wake of the Roman legions and settled in the Rhineland in the early 4th century. The Talmud and the Midrash apply the term Germania/Germamia to designate the countries of northern Europe. Medieval Jewish sources first refer to Germany as Allemania. Later, the biblical term Ashkenaz came into use. Jewish family names based on terms identifying Jews from Germany and other German-speaking countries include the German Deutsch and Teutsch, the Yiddish Teitsh, the Hungarian Nemet, the Russian Germanski, the Polish Nemets, the Romanian Neamt, and north Germanic forms such as Duytsch.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Deutsch include the German orientalist Emanuel Oscar M. Deutsch (1828-1873); the Russian revolutionary, Leo (Lev Grigoryevich) Deutsch (1855-1941); the Czech-born American scholar Gotthard Deutsch (1859-1921), and the Austrian socialist , Julius Deutsch (1884-1968), who was defense minister of the Austrian Republic from 1919 to 1920. In the 20th century Deutsch is recorded as a Jewish family name with the Deutsch family, who lived in the town of Zhadova (Jadova) near Czernowitz, northern Bukovina (now in Ukraine), prior to World War II. The entire Jewish community of Zhadova was deported to death camps in July 1941.
Deutsch means "German" in German. Originally, the surname was a personal nickname for a German Jew or his family, in a non-German environment. Terms identifying Jews from Germany or other German-speaking areas are current in numerous European languages. They include Teutsch(er) and Deutsch(-er), that come from the old High German Thiudisc/Tiutisc, which the Romans transformed into the Latin Theotiseus/Theotises/Teutisca and the Italians adjusted to Tedesci/Tedesche/Tedesco. Several synonyms for German are based on Alemannen, in Latin Alamanni. A west Germanic tribe, called Swabians by their neighbours on the Elbe river, they invaded Gaul and northern Italy in the 3rd century and settled in Rhineland, Alsace and Switzerland. In Romance-language countries, derivatives of Alamanni, among them the French Allemand, the Spanish Aleman and the Italian Alleman(n)o, became synonyms for "German". The first Jews to reach Germany went there in the wake of the Roman legions and settled in the Rhineland in the early 4th century. The Talmud and the Midrash apply the term Germania/Germamia to designate the countries of northern Europe. Medieval Jewish sources first refer to Germany as Allemania. Later, the biblical term Ashkenaz came into use. Jewish family names based on terms identifying Jews from Germany and other German-speaking countries include the German Deutsch and Teutsch, the Yiddish Teitsh, the Hungarian Nemet, the Russian Germanski, the Polish Nemets, the Romanian Neamt, and north Germanic forms such as Duytsch.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Deutsch include the German orientalist Emanuel Oscar M. Deutsch (1828-1873); the Russian revolutionary, Leo (Lev Grigoryevich) Deutsch (1855-1941); the Czech-born American scholar Gotthard Deutsch (1859-1921), and the Austrian socialist , Julius Deutsch (1884-1968), who was defense minister of the Austrian Republic from 1919 to 1920. In the 20th century Deutsch is recorded as a Jewish family name with the Deutsch family, who lived in the town of Zhadova (Jadova) near Czernowitz, northern Bukovina (now in Ukraine), prior to World War II. The entire Jewish community of Zhadova was deported to death camps in July 1941.