Weiland
An old Germanic personal name, later also reinterpreted in some places as a “meadow land” surname.
The #5,638 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,097 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Weiland is usually explained as going back to an old Germanic personal name, rather than directly to the modern-looking words “weide” or “land.” Historical surname studies note forms such as Wigland > Wieland > Weiland, pointing to an old first name built from Germanic name elements. In some areas, the spelling also invites folk association with “wieland/weyland” or with landscape terms, but the personal-name origin is the main explanation.
History
The name appears in German and Dutch naming traditions and has spread in the German-speaking world and beyond through migration. Early surname literature also notes a related and overlapping naming tradition around Wieland/Weiland as a given name, which helped keep the surname in circulation. In modern times it is found in the United States as a relatively uncommon immigrant surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source explicitly says that Wieland, also used as a surname, was originally an old Germanic male given name.
From the historical record
“boren*'. Weik- s. Wig (V., einst. K.). Weiland s. Wig (V., eins. K.). Weiler III. ahd. wil&ri, mhd. wiler „einzelnes Gehöft; kleines, aus wenigen Gehöften be- stehendes Dorf*'. In ON. außeroi-dontlich häufig im Südwesten Deutschlands von der Schweiz bis nordwärts nach Köln und Aachen.”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen