Gehring
A German surname most likely built from an old personal name stem related to a spear- or war-associated name, with the ending -ing indicating descent or association.
The #6,638 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,538 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally treated as a German patronymic or family-name formation. The excerpts point to a connection with the old name element ger / gehr, meaning "spear," so Gehring was probably formed from a short name or nickname based on that stem, with -ing marking a family or descendant relationship. In effect, it likely meant "one from the Gehr-name family" or "descendant of Gehr."
History
19th- and early-20th-century surname scholars regularly grouped Gehring with other German names built on ger- or gehr- forms, and also noted related spellings such as Gehringer and Gehrung. The name is found in German-speaking regions and later appears in North American records through immigration. The form is not especially rare, but it is much less common than major German surnames like Müller or Schmidt.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname lists treat Gehring and Gehringer as close relatives, showing how a single old name stem could generate several modern family names.
From the historical record
“mäßiger Zahl durch alle Kreise, ohne die badische Vergröberung in tsch. Patronymika auf -ing (Schilling, Gehring, Scheuring) sind hier häufiger als im Badischen. Unter den von der Beschäftigung entlehnten Namen sind besonders häufig Müller und Maier (Mayer — immer mit a), beide, namentlich letzterer auch in…”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen