Gatter / Gatterer / Gaither /Gattermann Surname DNA Study Researching all Gatter, Gater, Gatterer, Gattermann/Gatterman/Gatermann/Gaterman and Kotrman lines world wide. The "Gatter Surname DNA Study" tries to document whether there are genetic links between families with these simular sounding surnames. Evidence from church records shows changes of names over time from Gatter (Gader) to Gatterer (Gaderer) and back, and from Gattermann to Kotrman and Gatter. Also a shift from Gatter to Gather and finally Gaither has been documented. The origin of the names are for the most part farmsteads located at a gate ("Gatter"). These gates separated the cultivated land from the grazing lands or forests. To distinguish these farms from others, they were given the name "Gatterhof", "Gatterhube", "Gatterer" and else ("Gatter farm"). The owners were thus called "Gatter", "Gatterer", "Gatterbauer", "Gatterhofer", "Gatterhuber", etc. Also names such as Gattereder, Gattersteiger, Gattermeier, Gattermaier, Gattermayer, Gattermayr go back to farms located at the gate. From generation to generation the names used by the farmers varied. A grandfather could be called "Gatter", while his son used the name "Gatterer" and the grandson was called "Gatterbauer" or „Gattermeier“. Genetic connections between all these names are thus possible .... bearing in mind, however, that there were countless "Gatter-" farms, especially in Austria, Bavaria, Württemberg, Franconia and Southern Tirol. Without any doubt, there are thus different origins of the name. The around 50 participants of the study trace their lines back to Austria, Bavaria, Oberpfalz, Bohemia, the Alsace and Saxony. From there - over time - these families spread to other parts of Europe, Britain, Bohemia, South and North America, Australia and South Africa. Gatter/Gater/Gaither families also appear in Britain. Their origin seems tob e a different one that on the European mainland. The name is derived from the „gate“ (dweller by the gate), from the „gata“, the old Saxon word for „road“ (dweller by the road), or according to some from the „goat herder“ (goather). Several Gatter of British origin have participated in the testing so far, and all lines lead to a distinct origin in Devonshire, where the family is documented from the late 1500s onwards. Also Gaither men of North America have patricipated in the DNA study. They trace their ancestry back to John Gatter, an early settler of Jamestown, who came to Virginia from England in 1620 aboard the ship „George“. Visit the project website at www.gatter.net