Please note that this title primarily consists of content that is freely available on the internet. More and more people in this country are interested in onomastics, the study of names. Their most common questions are: What does their last name mean, and where does it come from? Are there regions in the country where a name appears particularly often or in a modified form, and where the origin of a family might be found? In the beginning, there were only first names – it was only in the Middle Ages, due to urbanization and population growth, that last names were added. These are often derived from occupations, paternal names, characteristics, or place names. Use this book to learn about the fascinating study of names, including first and last names in German-speaking regions!.