Schuh
A German surname from the word for a shoe, often arising from a shoemaker or shoe-related nickname.
The #6,777 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,047 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Schuh is the German word for a shoe, ultimately from Middle High German schuoch and Old High German scuoh. As a surname, it most likely began as an occupational name for someone connected with making or dealing in shoes, or less often as a nickname. The historical sources also place it among German names related to footwear and shoemaking.
History
The form is especially at home in German-speaking areas, where many surname variants grew out of older craft terms for shoemakers and shoe workers. Related surnames such as Schumacher, Schuster, and other Schuh- compounds show how productive this name group was in medieval and early modern naming. In some regions, shorter forms like Schuh may reflect a direct occupational label or a shortened descendant of longer compound forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root appears in a number of German surnames tied to shoemaking, showing how common the craft was as a surname source.
From the historical record
“SCHUMACHER (Ger.) Shoemaker [Ger. schuh, M.H.Ger, schuoch, O.H.Ger. scuoh, shoe -f- Ger. macher, f. machen, M.H.Ger. macheit, O.H.Ger. mahhSn, to make]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)