Frequency: (1000)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. English: topographic name for someone who lived near a pathway, alleyway, or road, Old English (ge)wind (from windan ‘to go’).
2. English, German, and Danish: nickname for a swift runner, from Middle English wind ‘wind’, Middle High German wint ‘wind’, also ‘greyhound’.
3. German: variant of Wendt.
4. Swedish: ornamental name from vind ‘wind’, or a habitational name from a place named with this element.
GIVEN NAMES: German 4%. Erwin (3), Gerhard (2), Elfriede, Florian, Kajetan, Klaus, Kurt, Reinhold, Wilhelm.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
