Weingart, Weingarten and Weingartner DNA Project- Background

Background

The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that the Germans had no wine, so they must have acquired it from the Romans. The German word wein is derived from the Latin vinum ¹. 

Similarly the English word wine derives from the same Latin root. Many German names were based on words for fields or pastures - smaller than a field is a garten ². 

The German Garten is garden in English whereas the German Gärtner is gardener. The Weingarten and Weingärtner surnames result from the combination of the German words Wein with either Garten or Gärtner. Weingarten refers to a vineyard and Weingärtner would be the one who tends the vineyard.  

The German speaking countries in Europe include Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Each of these countries along with other areas where German speaking people lived/live (e.g. Poland and Alsace, France) have their own Wine-producing regions which gave rise to these surnames. Since the use of permanent surnames has occurred during the past few centuries, Y-DNA testing provides a means to identify whether individuals sharing similar surnames have a common surname origin. 

Thus, the goal of the WEINGART, WEINGARTEN and WEINGARTNER DNA Project is to use Y-DNA testing for identifying the various family lines and determining if any links exist between them. The project is also open to variant spellings and anglicized versions of these surnames.

The surnames of Vineyard and Vinyard have special designation with regard to this project. These surnames both exist in North America. However, the origin of these surnames can derive from different places. One place of origin is England. The Vineyard/Vinyard surname for English immigrants coming to North has remained virtually intact since its inception. However, the Vineyard/Vinyard surname was also adopted for use by some immigrants from non-English speaking areas when they came to North America or as they began to establish themselves in North America. Thus, this project can help participants establish family lines that are influenced by these set of circumstances.  

Additional information about this project can be seen at our World Families Network Weingart Family Project website.

 

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1. George F. Jones, German-American Names (Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1995), p. 38 para 102

2. Ibid., p. 46 para 122

 

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