Heschmeyer Family History & Genealogy

Summary

Heschmeyer: it is my opinion that meyer is a suffix indicating a status name for mayor, steward, bailiff, or overseer and that it originated well before the Napoleonic period which may have been part of the original Hesch blood line.
Surname prefix and suffix have always been of historical interest to me. From what I know about the origins of the name HESCH and its other forms HESCHEL and vonHESCHEL tell me that our families were once closely associated in commercial and government activities. In 1980 when I was researching the Hesch Family in Germany, I spent an afternoon with the German Government's Genealogist in Kaiserslautern. My German was almost non-existent but his English was much better than he thought it was. From our conversation I gleaned that the word/name HESCH originated perhaps in Charlemagne's period. The genealogist said that "this very old word form means 'one who hangs around the court.'" The conclusion is that HESCH was the original surname for a family of advisors or counselors to the nights, princes, and kings of 9th to 11th century west of the Rhine government.
The prefix von means out of or belong to or with. The suffix -el has in the modern period been considered indicative of a diminutive or subservient role. My understanding is that in the conditions at the end of the first millennium, the -el suffix designated the literate assistants to the illiterate leaders. And except for monks and priests, only the Jewish communities were highly literate. Hence, the HESCHEL family kept the records for the HESCH family. Today's folks that say HESCHEL means "little Hesch" are woefully ignorant of the past.
Concerning the surname VONHESCHEL. It is possible that the HESCHEL family, as non-real-property owners {Jews were excluded from real estate ownership}, struck a commercial deal with a family that were allowed to hold real estate and their surname became "von Heschel" or literally "belonging with Heschel" family. Pure speculations on my part!
Bottom Line: Between families HESCH and HESCHEL and VONHESCHEL there are definite historical economic links but probably no blood relationships.

History

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Name Origin

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Spellings & Pronunciations

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Nationality & Ethnicity

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Famous People named Heschmeyer

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Early Heschmeyers

These are the earliest records we have of the Heschmeyer family.