Hagedorn
A German surname meaning “hawthorn,” originally used for someone living by or near a hawthorn hedge or thicket.
The #8,040 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,011 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hagedorn is a German compound of Hage, meaning “hedge,” “enclosure,” or “copse,” and Dorn, meaning “thorn.” Taken together, it literally refers to a hawthorn or thorny hedge plant. In surname use, it most likely began as a topographic name for someone who lived near such growth, rather than as an occupation in the strict sense.
History
The name is well established in German-speaking areas and appears in older surname lists and place-name references. 19th-century scholars often glossed it as the equivalent of English surnames like Hawthorn. It also appears in variant forms such as Hagedorn, Hagdorn, and related spellings in older records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it literally means “hedge-thorn,” Hagedorn is one of many German surnames built from plants and landscape features.
From the historical record
“sammen). -hagre s. Hag ITI. Hagedorn 111. mhd. hagendorn, hagdorn. FN. Hagedom (auch ON.) — Heidom. Hagemeister lU. ,, Hegemeister, Förster*^.”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen