Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
Dickert Coat of Arms / Dickert Family CrestThis surname of DICKERT was of three fold origin. It was a German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) nickname for a stout and thickset man, originally derived from the Old German word DICKI. It was also a topographic name for someone who lived by a thicket or patch of thickly grown undergrowth and finally it was a baptismal name meaning 'the son of Richard, which was derived from the Old German 'Ricard' a font name meaning powerful and brave. The name was introduced into England by the Normans during the Norman Conquest of 1066, and was usually Latinized as Ricardus in medieval documents. Surnames are divided into four categories, from occupations, nicknames, baptismal and locational. All the main types of these are found in German-speaking areas, and names derived from occupations and from nicknames are particularly common. A number of these are Jewish. Patronymic surnames are derived from vernacular Germanic given names, often honouring Christian saints. Regional and ethnic names are also common. The German preposition 'von (from) or 'of', used with habitation names, is taken as a mark of aristocracy, and usually denoted proprietorship of the village or estate from where they came. Some members of the nobility affected the form VON UND ZU with their titles. In eastern Germany there was a heavy influence both from and on neighbouring Slavonic languages. Many Prussian surnames are of Slavonic origin. When traditional Jews were forced to take family names by the local bureaucracy, it was an obligation imposed from outside traditional society, and people often took the names playfully and let their imaginations run wild by choosing names which corresponded to nothing real in their world. No one alive today can remember the times when Jews took or were given family names (for most Ashkenazim this was the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th) although many remember names being changed after emigration to other countries, such as the United States and Israel in recent years. The first hereditary surnames on German soil are found in the second half of the 12th century, slightly later than in England and France. However, it was not until the 16th century that they became stabilized. The practice of adopting hereditary surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northwards during the Middle Ages. |
