Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
Granzow Coat of Arms / Granzow Family CrestThe German and Swedish surname of GRANZOW was a locational name meaning 'one who came from GRANO' (the place where grain was prepared) in Germany. The name is also spelt GRAHNN, GRAHNE and GRANN. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. 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. A notable member of the name was Lucile GRAHN (1819-1907) Danish ballerina, born in Copenhagen. Making her official debut at only seven, she subsequently studied and worked in the Royal Danish Ballet. Retiring from dancing in 1856, she was ballet mistress at the Leipzig State Theatre, and then with the Munich Court Opera (1869-75). A street in Munich is named after her. Most Swedes did not adopt hereditary surnames until a century or more later, and the patronymic system was still in use in rural areas until late in the 19th century. In the absence of evidence to the contrary it is thought that people may have adopted their surname from the area in which they lived. |
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