Re: What does Benz mean?
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In reply to:
Re: What does Benz mean?
Martha Florey 5/02/01
A possible source for an explanation of the name Benz is the following german book:
Bahlow: „Deutsches Namenlexikon“, Keysersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München 1967
According to that the name Benz comes from the first name „Berthold“. From Berthold derived names are Berthel, Berlt, Perthel, Berch, Birchtel, Birchteler, Bechtle, Bertsch and the uppergerman/alemanic Benz as well. Pentz or Penz is the kind of writing typically for Bavarian and Austrian.
But the fact, that the name Benz is very old (first appearance about 5. century - „Penzo“ is an oldgermanic clanname) makes it difficult to explain the correct original meaning. So it is not amazing, that there are some more explanation-possibilities:
Benz can be derived from the:
- ...first name Bernhard(t)
- ...langobardic-word bandu or bando (it means „war-banner“)
- ...Oldhighgerman-word bero = „Bär“ (bear)
- ...Oldhighgerman-word banz = „Gau“
Kind regards,
Christian Benz
http://www.ahnenforschung-benz.de.vuhttp://www.ahnenforschung-benz.de.vu