Wiese
A German surname meaning “meadow” or “pasture,” usually from a place-name or a home near open grassland.
The #3,817 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,245 Americans shares it.
Etymology
German Wiese means “meadow” or “pasture.” As a surname, it most often began as a topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow or as a habitational name from a place called Wiese or a similar form. The related forms Wiesenthal and Wiesner point to the same meadow-based root.
History
The name is well attested in German surname lists and also appears in place-based compounds across German-speaking areas. Related surnames such as Wiesenthal and Wiesner show how the same root was extended into “meadow valley” and “person from the meadow/place.” It also spread beyond Germany through migration to North America and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several older surname dictionaries group Wiese with other landscape surnames like Moor, Marsh, Heath, and Meadow because all are drawn from features of the land.
From the historical record
“Moräne). Andermatt(en) HI. „an der Matte* (Wiese). Johannes an der matten 1300. Andermaner HI. „an der Mauer**. Vgl. Haus auf der Mauer (Schiller, Teil).”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen