Surname zur Mühl - Meaning and Origin
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zur Mühl: What does the surname zur Mühl mean?
The last name Zur Mühl translates to English as "at the mill," referring to a family with ancestral ties to a mill. By looking at this last name it is possible to infer that at some point in the family history, a member of the family was either the owner of or employed at a mill.
Mills have long been a key part of the economy, providing a much needed resource to the local communities. In Medieval Europe, water mills were particularly important as their power enabled the grinding of grain into flour, the essential ingredient for bread. On top of that, they were also used for hammering and grinding metals - essential to the production of armour, tools and weapons. Over time, larger wind and steam powered mills became popular and appeared in newer industries such as textiles, papermaking and woodworking.
This sort of business could be lucrative enough to power generations of a family. A mill would have been an essential asset to its community and evidence of dedication, hard work and innovation.
By knowing the number of generations a family has been running a mill, it can be inferred how important it was to them and how ingrained the profession was in their culture and history. It seems that many families regard the mill as an ancestral enterprise, and for a family with the last name Zur Mühl, this is sure to be the case.
Order DNA origin analysiszur Mühl: Where does the name zur Mühl come from?
The last name, Zur Mühl, is commonly found in modern-day Germany, with many families with this last name having origins in the 17th century. Records indicate that the surname dates back to the 1500s, originating in the southwestern region of Germany known as the Pfalz. The surname is also found in several other countries, especially in northern Europe, such as The Netherlands and Switzerland.
Most surnames in Germany are derived from a profession or geographical location, with Zur Mühl being one of the many occupational surnames. The surname likely arose from a family involved with millers in the Pfalz. The prefix “zur,” means “of” or “belonging to” in German, so the surname likely means “belonging to the mill.”
In modern-day Germany, it is estimated that there are approximately 5400 people with this last name. The majority of them reside in the states of Hesse, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. As the frequency of this name has increased over time, it is becoming less common to find families with direct ancestral ties to the initial families who took on the name Zur Mühl. Still, the surname remains a prominent one in Germany and northern Europe.
Variations of the surname zur Mühl
The surname Zur Mühl is a toponymic name derived from the Middle High German for “to the mill”. The origin of the name therefore indicates the presence of a mill within the family’s ancestral home. As is common with German names, there exists a variety of variant spellings and surnames of the same origin.
One of the variants of Zur Mühl is Zür Mühle, where the “ü” has been replaced with the “u” spelling more commonly used in modern spelling conventions.
There are a few surnames that may be related to the Zur Mühl surname, such as Zuer Mühle, Zur Mulde and Zuer Müller. The “er” and “el” suffixes are indicative of the periods of German history when it was quite common to add suffixes to surnames.
The surname may have also been mutated over the years due to mispronunciations or phonetic spellings, resulting in alternative surnames such as Zurmuhl or Zurmuhlen.
Finally, several variants of the name can derived from the shortening of the full name, such as Zürm, Muhl, or Mühle.
In conclusion, the Zur Mühl surname has a range of variants, spellings and related surnames from which it can derive from or potentially become mutated into.
Famous people with the name zur Mühl
- Albert von Zur Muhl (1832-1911), German jurist
- Joseph von Zur Muhl (1864-1921), German naval officer
- Erich von Zur Muhl (1867-1951), German military doctor and historian
- Julius von Zur Muhl (1875-1935), German eccentric
- Gustav von Zur Muhl (1878-1946), German banker and economist
- Karl Freiherr von Zur Muhl (1908-1995), German opera singer
- Bernhard Baron von Zur Muhl (1909-1952), German lawyer and diplomat
- Albert von Zur Muhl (1920-1995), German philosopher
- Elisabeth von Zur Muhl (1921-2016), German journalist
- Wolf Freiherr von Zur Muhl (born 1925), German ambassador and diplomat
- Ottmar von Zur Muhl (born 1932), German businessman and noble
- Ulrike-Grete von Zur Muhl (born 1958), German writer and journalist
- Janos von Zur Muhl (born 1970), Hungarian actor.