Demeyer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany

The ancestral home of the Demeyer family is in the German state of Bavaria. The name Demeyer is an occupational hereditary surname, a type of surname that was taken from a word describing or common to the profession of the original bearer. It is a name for a mayor, or elected head of the community. The name stems from the German word "meier," meaning mayor.

Early Origins of the Demeyer family

The surname Demeyer was first found in southern Germany, where the family was anciently seated. The name referred at first to the representative of the lord of a manor, and later to the administrator or tenant of a small court.

Early History of the Demeyer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Demeyer research. Another 287 words (20 lines of text) covering the years 1363, 1400, 1618, 1643, 1646, 1650, 1653, 1689, 1712, 1713, 1725, 1760, 1763, 1786, 1825, 1832, 1845, 1847, 1849, 1857, 1870 and 1898 are included under the topic Early Demeyer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Demeyer Spelling Variations

In the medieval era, many different cultural groups lived in the German states. There are thus many regional variations of German surnames from that era. Westphalians spoke Low German, which is similar to modern Dutch. Many German names carry suffixes that identify where they came from. Others have phrases attached that identify something about the original bearer. Other variations in German names resulted from the fact that medieval scribes worked without the aid of any spelling rules. The spelling variations of the name Demeyer include Mayer, Maier, Meyer, Meier, Mayr, Meyr, Myer and many more.

Early Notables of the Demeyer family

Prominent among members of the name Demeyer in this period include Conrad Meyer (1618-1689), a Swiss painter and engraver from Zurich; Johann Friedrich Mayer (1650-1712), a German Lutheran theologian; Rupert Ignaz Mayr (1646-1712), a German violinist, composer and Kapellmeister in Munich; Hans Heinrich Meyer (1760-1832), a Swiss painter and...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Demeyer Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Demeyer migration to the United States +

Thousands of German settlers came to North America between the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. The hardships of the long voyage were balanced by the opportunity to escape poverty and religious persecution. The descendents of these settlers still populate the states of Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. Many also live in Ontario and the prairie provinces of Canada. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Demeyer or a variant listed above:

Demeyer Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Nicolaus DeMeyer, who landed in New York in 1664 1

Demeyer Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Leopold Demeyer, who arrived in Mississippi in 1900 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Demeyer (post 1700) +

Brigitte DeMeyer (b. 1965), American singer-songwriter
Peter DeMeyer, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Mayor of Maumee, Ohio, 1937 2
Nicholaes DeMeyer (1635-1691), American politician, 9th Mayor of New York City
Trace DeMeyer (b. 1956), Shawnee-Cherokee author, artist, poet and journalist
Patrick De Meyer, Belgian songwriter, composer and produce
Olga De Meyer (1871-1930), British-born artists' model, socialite, arts patron and writer
Luis De Meyer (b. 1903), Argentine cyclist who competed in three events at the 1924 Summer Olympics and two events at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Leon De Meyer (1928-2006), Belgian archeologist and Assyriologist
Jean-Luc De Meyer (b. 1957), Belgian vocalist and lyricist
Jan De Meyer (1921-2014), Belgian jurist, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights and a member of the Belgian Senate (1980-1986)
... (Another 3 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 15) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html