Alternate meanings for my name.

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Dave

Dave

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My family name is "Nihsen", which means...well, not much considering it was changed when they came through Ellis Island. I have heard that the original was either "Nissen" or "Nißen", depending on which member of the family you talk to.

But I don't know what any of them really mean. So I'm asking you all for help. Give me an idea - real or faked - as to what the name means.

By the way, a prize may or may not go to my favorite answer. And it's for a reason...
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

It means "welder" or "one who welds" or more generically "one who makes two things form a single thing"
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

For the record, Nissen and Nissen are the same. Modern German writing tries to sort-of replace the eszet (that letter I can't be bothered to make on my French keyboard :p) with double-s. Many germans still use it, but in typing it's perfectly acceptable to replace it with two esses.

That said, -sen usually translates to -son in names (Jefferson, Jameson), so...."son of Nick". Apperently his prom night was a long time ago.
 
North_Ranger

North_Ranger

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Hmmm... well, first of all I don't know your parentage, Dave ol' boy, but it could have something to do with Nilssen (Danish) or Nilsson (Swedish/Norwegian); essentially a surname meaning "son of Nils". If you have ancestors hailing from Slesvig-Holstein in Northern Germany, Nihsen could very well be a version of Nilssen.

But that's just a shot in the dark.
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

Well, I just looked up the meaning of my surname, Nevarez. It's apparently a variant of Nevares, which is a parish in northern Spain. Can any Spaniards here help me out, is Nevares the name of an actual city, or is that just the name for the general area?
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
The reason I am asking is because when I set up Nihsen.com I tried to have it as a repository for my relatives and genealogy. Well, the genealogy didn't work out because the software I was using caused me nothing but fits. In fact, I have to use 3 programs - one to enter the information, one to port it into a specific file format and the third to actually make the page.

So I have an idea about Nihsen.com but it requires me to have a reason for anyone to go there, hence a bullshit thing to set the name Nihsen onto. Since my family won't go there. :(
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

My last name is Scottish and means "plain or field".

My maiden name is French. It means "brave people". It's also the name of the King of Navarre in Dante's Inferno, though I have seen it spelled differently depending on the translation.
 
strawman

strawman

Nihsen: advisor, one who advises. Derives from the Latin 'nihil' which means "I am somewhat in doubt"

History has not left records whether the name is due to people who are doubtful seeking aid from the advisor, or the advisor himself or herself often modestly indicating that their advice is no better than any other advice one might receive by concluding the advice with "I am somewhat in doubt."
 
Chippy

Chippy

I was pretty upset when I learned my family's penises wasn't their namesake. My name literally just means son of John. Well, son of Jonn, as Jonnson got changed to Johnson after my Icelandic relatives immigrated.
 
David

David

Mine, Terry, apparently is old Germanic for "People's Ruler." However, my father was adopted, I believe my genetic paternal last name would have been "Fargo."

 
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