Dorner History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Germany

Bavaria, Germany is the ancestral home of the Dorner family. The Dorner surname evolved as a local name. It is a name for a family that lived near a thorn-bush or hedge. The surname Dorner is derived from the German word dorn, which means thorn. Thus, the name was adopted by a person who lived near thorn bushes. The name Dorner also was used by people from Dornach, which is a town located near Munich in Bavaria. There is also a town named Dörnach in Tübingen, Westphalia and a city named Thorn (which is now Torun) in Poland. In Bavaria, the Dorner family lived on a feudal estate. Land proprietorship and management were the sole source of wealth and power in the Middle Ages and the Dorner family, as noble landowners, became prestigious members of the landed aristocracy.

Early Origins of the Dorner family

The surname Dorner was first found in Bavaria, where the name came from humble beginnings but gained a significant reputation for its contribution to the emerging mediaeval society. It later became more prominent as many branches of the same house acquired distant estates and branches, some in foreign countries, always elevating their social status by their great contributions to society.

Important Dates for the Dorner family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dorner research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1738, 1530, 1584, 1809 and 1884 are included under the topic Early Dorner History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dorner 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 Dorner include Dorn, Dorner, Doorn, Doern, Dorne, Dorns and others.

Early Notables of the Dorner family (pre 1700)

Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dorner Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dorner 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 Dorner or a variant listed above:

Dorner Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Jacob Dorner, who landed in New York in 1709 ^[1]
• Johannes Dorner, who arrived in New York in 1709-1710 ^[1]
• Anna Margaretta Dorner, aged 40, who arrived in New York in 1710 ^[1]
• Thomas Dorner, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1740 ^[1]
• Johann Henrich Dorner, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1774 ^[1]

Dorner Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Peter Dorner, aged 34, who arrived in Missouri in 1840 ^[1]
• Wilh Anton Dorner, who arrived in America in 1856 ^[1]

Citations

1. ^ 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)