Frequency: (459)
(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: occupational name for a builder, one who built walls, from an agent derivative of Middle High German want ‘wall’ (from Old High German wenten ‘to wind or weave’; the earliest domestic walls were of wattle and daub construction, made from woven hurdles packed with clay).
2. German: occupational name for a maker or seller of cloth, from an agent derivative of a reduced form of Middle High German gewant ‘cloth’, ‘garment’ (from Old High German giwant, likewise a derivative of wenten ‘to weave’).
3. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Wanderer, a nickname from Yiddish vandern ‘to wander or hike’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
