Jamie Hunter wrote: > Hello! > > I was wondering if anyone knows the origins of the following names: > > WIMPENNY from Manchester, England English: nickname for an acquisitive person, from Middle English 'winn(en)', meaning 'to gain, which comes from Old English 'winnan', meaning 'to conquer, defeat' + 'penny'. (A Dictionary of Surnames by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges) > > > ROTTGER, ROETCHER, ROETTGER from Germany ROTTGER (German) Variation of 'ROGER', from a Germanic personal name whose components mean 'renown' + 'spear'. It was introducted into England by the Normans in the form of 'ROGIER' Found ROTTCHER as a variation of above, but no ROETCHER. I suspect your spelling to be an unlisted variation of ROTTGER, ROTTCHER. Found ROETTGER in the German-American book, but it referred me to 'RUEDIGER', which means "illustrious" + "spear", which would seem to mean it also is a variation of ROGER. (A Dictionary of Surnames) (German-American Names by George F. Jones) > > > REGENHARDT from Germany German: A form of REYNARD, from a Germanic personal name meaning 'counsel' + 'hard, brave, strong'. Due to the medieval tales of a cunning fox given the name of Reynard, the name can mean a cunning or sly person. Among several other German variations are: Reinhart, Reinhard(t) (A Dictionary of Surnames) > > > Thanks very much for your time! > jamie > > ============================== > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > http://searches.rootsweb.com/