Frequency: (1643)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. German: from the medieval personal name Rehm (see Remy). The former name was borne by a 6th-century bishop of Rheims; the latter was borne by various minor saints of the 8th to 10th centuries.
2. German: from Middle High German reme ‘frame’, ‘loom’, ‘rack’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or used such items.
3. North German: metonymic occupational name for a maker of leather reins and similar articles (see Riehm and Riemer).
GIVEN NAMES: German 4%. Bernd (3), Otto (3), Armin (2), Hans (2), Gunter, Hermann, Lothar, Oskar.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
