Niehues

Niehues is a German toponymic surname, i.e. it has its source in the type of residence the family lived in.

Etymology and pronunciation

The name Niehues etymologically comes from West Low German (here: Westphalian) dialects, being a compound word meaning "new house" (the High German variant of the name is Neuhaus).

The pronunciation of the name (German pronunciation: [ˈniːhuːs]) does not entirely follow High German pronunciation rules. The second vowel sound is written like the alternative High German spelling of an umlaut-ü sound (German pronunciation: [yː]), but it is pronounced like a normal u sound (German pronunciation: [uː], as in English pool).

Due to the non-standard German origin of the name, it is often misspelled or mispronounced even by Germans, if they are unfamiliar with the dialect.

Origin and distribution

In today's Germany, the name Niehues can be found mostly in the regions where the Westphalian dialect is or was spoken, predominantly in the adjacent cities and districts Münster, Coesfeld, Steinfurt, Recklinghausen, Borken and Unna in the northwest of Germany close to the border of the Netherlands.[1]

Outside of Germany, families named Niehues settled especially in the United States (here predominantly in Kansas, also in Texas, California, Louisiana and Ohio)[2][3][4] and in Brazil.[5]

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 60.8% of all known bearers of the surname Niehues were residents of Germany (frequency 1:19,098), 31.7% of Brazil (1:93,342) and 5.8% of the United States (1:903,128).

In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:19,098) in the following states:

In Brazil, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:93,342) in the following states:[6]

People

Places

In Germany, some place names are derived from farms bearing the (sometimes former) owner's name, for example Niehues near Nottuln.[7] Also streets have been named after people named Niehues in Germany (e.g. Propst-Niehues-Straße in Marl,[8] Niehuesstraße in Everswinkel[9]), the Netherlands (e.g. Abraham Niehuesstraat in Hoogeveen[10]) and Brazil (e.g. Rua João Teodoro Niehues in Braço do Norte[11]), and Rua Antonio Niehues in {[Capanema - PR]}.

See also

References
  1. Distribution map of the name Niehues in Germany on verwandt.de (German), accessed on January 11, 2015.
  2. Distribution map of the name Niehues in the U.S. in 1920 on ancestry.com, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  3. Distribution map of the name Niehues in the U.S. today, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  4. Records of individuals named Niehues in the U.S. on ancestry.com, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  5. Bar chart displaying the occurrences of Niehues in various countries, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  6. Niehues surname distribution
  7. Place name Niehues in Nottuln, on GoogleMaps, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  8. Street incorporating the name Niehues in Marl, Germany, on OpenStreetMap, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  9. Street incorporating the name Niehues in Everswinkel, Germany, on GoogleMaps, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  10. Street incorporating the name Niehues in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, on OpenStreetMap, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  11. Street incorporating the name Niehues in Braço do Norte, Brazil, on OpenStreetMap, accessed on January 11, 2015.
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