Surname Tanzmeier - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'T'
Tanzmeier: What does the surname Tanzmeier mean?
Tanzmeier is a German surname derived from the Low German word “tanzen”, meaning “to dance”. This gives Tanzmeier a literal translation of “dance master” or “dance maker”. Those who carried this surname had likely been involved with dance in some capacity, likely as dance instructors.
The Tanzmeier surname is believed to have originated in the 16th century, although further information on its exact origin is scarce. The name appears to have grown in prominence throughout the centuries, with the earliest known records of the name dating back to 1573 in a German district located in what is now known as Brandenburg. Its presence in Germany has been found in areas such as Bavaria, Hamburg, and Prussia.
The Tanzmeier name eventually began to expand across the globe. The first known recorded record of the surname outside of Germany is in Illinois, United States, with immigrants from the region beginning to appear in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tanzmeier’s have also been found in Canada, the UK, and Australia.
These days, the Tanzmeier surname can be found across the world, and while few today may remember its origins in dance, its legacy will live on.
Order DNA origin analysisTanzmeier: Where does the name Tanzmeier come from?
The last name Tanzmeier is most commonly found in Germany today. The name itself is derived from the German tans, which referred to an area with a concentration of poplar trees, along with the suffix -meier, meaning settlement or farm.
The origin of the Tanzmeier name can be traced back to ancient German settlements along the Rhine before the 15th century, with various branches of the Tanzmeier family in different parts of the German-speaking world.
Today, Tanzmeier families mainly reside in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Baden-Wurttemberg. Additionally, Tanzmeier is also found throughout Austria, including in Vienna, and also in Switzerland.
In the United States, the Tanzmeier name can be found mainly in Pennsylvania and other Midwest states, in cities like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Milwaukee. This is because the American branch of the Tanzmeier family descended from German-American immigrants in the mid 19th century.
The Tanzmeier name is also known in Canada, mainly in Ontario, primarily as a result of the family's German heritage, as well as interracial marriages between German-Americans and Canadian settlers in the late 19th century.
Today, while one can't necessarily connect all of these branches of the Tanzmeier family, one thing remains true: the name Tanzmeier is still quite common throughout the German-speaking world and its diaspora.
Variations of the surname Tanzmeier
Tanzmeier is a German surname originating from Tanz, meaning ‘dance’. Variations of Tanzmeier include Tanz, Tanzmann, Tanzmair, Tanzmeir, Tanzmayr and Tanzmayer. Spellings of Tanzmeier often vary depending on dialect, with the commonly used versions being Tanzmeir and Tanzmair.
Tanzmeier is also very commonly mis-transcribed as Tansmeier or Thansmeier due to the difficulty of distinguishing between the letter ‘z’ and the letter ‘s’ in German. This mis-transcription often causes the wrong variation of the surname to be recorded in official documents, which can create problems when researching family history.
Tanzmeier can also be found as the surname Tanzmaier, which often occurs when the letters ‘z’ and ‘m’ are combined. However, this is generally not considered to be a variant of the name and is rather just a spelling mistake.
Finally, it is worth noting that Tanzmeier is also sometimes used as a spelling variation for the surname Tanzmann. Both Tanzmeier and Tanzmann are derived from the same root, but they are distinct surnames with separate ancestries.
In short, the variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin for the surname Tanzmeier include Tanz, Tanzmann, Tanzmair, Tanzmeir, Tanzmayr, Tanzmaier, Tanzmayer and Tanzmann.
Famous people with the name Tanzmeier
- Eva Tanzmeier: German actress best known for her roles in popular films such as "Goodbye Lenin!" and "The White Ribbon"
- Daniel Tanzmeier: German footballer who played for several top-tier clubs including SV Werder Bremen, 1. FC Nürnberg and VfB Oldenburg
- Manuel Tanzmeier: Swiss sprint canoer who won several international medals, notably a gold in the K-4 200m event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney
- Dietmar Tanzmeier: Austrian alpine skier who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics
- Uwe Tanzmeier: German ice hockey goaltender who played for various lower-level teams from the 1970s to the early 1990s
- Anton Tanzmeier: former German footballer who played for several Bundesliga and Regionalliga clubs during his career in the 1970s and 1980s
- Georg Tanzmeier: German theatre director and actor who has earned a living since the 1980s for the Hamburg State Opera
- Harald Tanzmeier: Austrian composer and music educator who has had dozens of pieces performed and recorded internationally
- Helmut Tanzmeier: German motor sport presenter, best known for his programs broadcast on the Premiere channel and for his work with the GEMA
- Hermann Tanzmeier: German World War II fighter pilot who was credited with the destruction of 18 enemy planes