Albrecht
A German surname from the old given name Albrecht, meaning roughly “noble-bright” or “illustrious noble.”
The #2,047 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,561 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Albrecht comes from the German personal name Albrecht, a cognate of Albert. The name is usually explained as coming from Old High German elements meaning “noble” and “bright” or “famous.” As a surname, it typically began as a patronymic or inherited family name taken from an ancestor’s given name.
History
Historical surname dictionaries treat Albrecht as the German form corresponding to Albert and related spellings such as Albright. It spread through German-speaking areas and later appears in immigrant communities elsewhere, including English-speaking countries. The surname is still common in Germany and in diaspora populations.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same name family also gave English surnames like Albright, which reflect the same old “noble + bright” sense through a different spelling history.
From the historical record
“arend] ALBRECHT (Gef.) = Albert, q.v. in Diet. ANDERSEN (Scand.) Dan.-Norvv. form of Anderson, q.v. in Diet. [Dan.-Norw. ^ son, son] ANDRE (Fr.) = Andrew, q.v. in Diet. ANTON (Ger.) for the Lat. Antonius (Eng. Atft(h)ony), f. the , Gr. Antios, Latinized”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)