Neu
A short surname from the German word for “new,” often applied as a nickname or from a new settlement/name form.
The #7,933 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,040 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neu is the German word for “new,” from older Germanic forms such as Middle High German and Old High German niuwe/niuwi. As a surname, it likely began as a nickname for a newcomer or for someone living near a newly established place, or as a shortened form of longer names built on the same root. The basic sense is simply “new.”
History
In German-speaking areas, Neu appears both as an independent surname and as the first element in many longer surnames and place-based names. It can also be a shortened or clipped form of compound names such as Neubauer, especially in regional or dialectal usage. Outside German-speaking countries, the spelling may have been simplified or adopted by immigrant families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same German root lies behind many familiar surnames and place names beginning with Neu-, all carrying the basic idea of something “new.”
From the historical record
“N EWCO ME 1 (Eng.)NEWcoMER; Stranger NEWCpMEN fJM.E. neu, new(e, new(ly + come{n ; O.E. niwe + cumen, pp. of cuman, to come] Robert le Newcomen. —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)