| {{ad}} |
|
|
|
The ancient German region of the Rhineland was the original home of the ancestors of the Brendel surname. Brendel was a local name, a type of hereditary surname that identified people by the places where they lived. Landowners were the first to use local names, and they often attached the prefix "von", meaning "of" or "from," to the surname. Often, the use of "von" was a mark of aristocratic birth. Local names are by far the most common style of German hereditary surname. Brendel was a name for someone who lived in the town name Brendli which was in the Unterwalden region of Germany. The surname Brendel is a habitation surname, which means that it was originally derived from a pre-existing name for a town, village, parish, or farmstead. Therefore, the surname Brendel denotes someone who was a resident of this township.
The surname Brendel was first found in the Rhine region, where the name is considered to have made an early contribution to the feudal society which became the backbone of early development in Europe. The name became prominent in local affairs as early as the 14th century, and branched into many houses. They played important roles in the savage tribal and national conflicts, as each group sought power and status in an ever-changing territorial profile.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brendel research. Another 46 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1582, 1811, 1844, 1852 and 1867 are included under the topic Early Brendel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
One can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames: in early times, spelling in general, and thus the spelling of names was not yet standardized; and later, spellings would change with branching and movement of families. Variations of the name Brendel include Brendel, Brendeler, Brendler, Brendle, Brenndel and many more.
Notables with the name Brendel during this period were
In the United States, the name Brendel is the 17,428th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Brendel is ranked the 9,556th most popular surname with an estimated 500 - 1,000 people with that name. 2
Hundreds of thousands of Europeans, including many Rhinelanders, made the voyage to North America between the 17th and 20th centuries. It was an escape from religious persecution and poverty and also an opportunity for people to start over and own their own land. Most landed at Ellis Island, off New York before moving on to the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, and California. Some also landed in Canada and settled in Ontario, while others headed west to the prairie provinces. A study of passenger and immigration lists has shown a number of people bearing the name of Brendel, or one of its variants, reaching North America shores very early:
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: