Surname Lütke-Wenning - Meaning and Origin
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Lütke-Wenning: What does the surname Lütke-Wenning mean?
The last name Lütke-Wenning is a German toponymic surname which indicates that the original bearer of the name came from or had familial origins in Lütke-Wenning, a small village located in Lower Saxony, Germany.
The toponymic compound surname comes from the combination of the two features, the surrounding place of Lütke and the Wennen, a small stream that flows through the region. Combined, the two words of the surname mean "dweller by the stream at Lütke".
The name is more generally indicative of family origin in the region and is most likely indicative of family ties to the village of origin. It is also possible that the origin of the surname was from a person with the personal name Lütke, who moved to and then settled near the small stream.
The Lütke-Wenning family line can be traced back to the early 19th century, when surnames first began to be used both as an indication of familial relations and as a sign of identity; prior to that use of surnames, people were typically identified by their given name, not by a family name.
The spelling of the surname Lütke-Wenning has been passed down through the family line, unchanged and unaltered, from its origins in the 1800s. It is likely that, even today, some descendants of the original bearer of the surname will still be living in or near the village, as well as other areas of Germany.
Order DNA origin analysisLütke-Wenning: Where does the name Lütke-Wenning come from?
The last name Lütke-Wenning is most common in Germany, particularly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. It is rarely found in other countries, such as the United States. According to the surname distribution map of Germany, the last name Lütke-Wenning is more likely to be found in the western part of the country, especially in the more urban areas.
The origin of the last name is somewhat of a mystery, as its elements - 'Lütke' and 'Wenning' - are two separate last names and it is unclear why they merged. The traditional explanation is that one of the families had only one unmarried daughter and in order to ensure the family name would survive, she married her cousin and their last names were merged.
It is unclear when the name first originated, but it is likely the merging of the two families occurred several hundred years ago. What is certain, however, is that the last name Lütke-Wenning has been popular in Germany since at least the 1800s. The earliest known record of the Lütke-Wenning family was in Hanover in 1861.
Today, the last name Lütke-Wenning is still quite common in Germany. While records of the name outside the country are rare, it is likely there are still some members of the Lütke-Wenning family scattered across Europe and beyond.
Variations of the surname Lütke-Wenning
The surname Lütke-Wenning has several variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin. Some examples are Lütkewening, Lutke-Wening, Lutkewening, Lutkewennung, Luttkewening, Luttkewennung, Lütke-Wennig and Lutke-Wennig.
The German surname Lütke-Wenning is derived from the personal name Wening, which is composed of two German elements: wen, a short form of the personal name Weno, and ing, which means “son of”. The prefix in the surname, Lütke, is from the Low German word meaning “small”, and is often associated with small dwellings or small settlements.
The surname first appears in written records in the 16th century, in a region now known as Lower Saxony in Germany. It was also used as an occupational name for a trader, but the most common place of origin for the name is Thüringen. Many of the variants for this German name appeared in the 19th century when families moved to areas that were not as heavily populated as the original region.
As the spelling of surnames changed over time, alternate spellings and versions were adopted by various branches of the family. Common variants are Lütke-Wening, Lutke-Wening, Lutkewening, Lutkewennung, Luttkewening, Luttkewennung, Lütke-Wennig and Lutke-Wennig.
Despite the existence of variants, all of these surnames are ultimately derived from the same German name and are related. It is likely that those bearing any of the variants are descended from a single common ancestor.
Famous people with the name Lütke-Wenning
- Mark Lütke-Wenning: German actor and voice actor, known for his work in Detective Conan: Episode One: The Great Detective Turning Up, as well as various dubbing works in German.
- Nils Lütke-Wenning: German swimmer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
- Helmut Lütke-Wenning: German lawyer and academic, best known for his role in the prosecution of Nazi officials in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials after World War II.
- Jörg Lütke-Wenning: German athlete who competed mainly in the 4 x 400 metres relay, winning a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
- Anna Katharina Lütke-Wenning: German banker, serving as chairman of the board of German stock bank HypoVereinsbank.
- Ernst Lütke-Wenning: German lawyer and politician who served as the First Minister of Lower Saxony.
- Henning Lütke-Wenning: German canoeist who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
- Christian Lütke-Wenning: German World War II aviator and last commanding officer of Jagdgeschwader 71, better known as the "Richthofen Squadron".
- Ruth Lütke-Wenning: German diplomat, serving in The Hague and Madrid, and later in charge of the North Rhine-Westphalia diplomatic office in Chile.
- Franz Lütke-Wenning: German jurist and economist who specialised in administrative law and comparative law.