Zimmer
A German surname meaning “room” or “chamber,” originally tied to a carpenter or builder.
The #2,111 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,007 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Zimmer comes from German zimmer, meaning “room,” “chamber,” or in older usage “timber” and “wooden building.” The word goes back to Middle High German zimber and Old High German zimbar, and it appears in surnames as a label for someone connected with house-building or carpentry. In that sense, it is closely related to the occupational surname Zimmermann, literally “man of the Zimmer,” i.e. a carpenter.
History
The surname is especially associated with German-speaking regions and became established as a hereditary family name in the Middle Ages, when occupational bynames were turning into fixed surnames. English-language sources from the 19th century already noted Zimmer alongside Zimmermann as a clearly German name. In the United States it is found among immigrant-descended families and is less common than the longer form Zimmermann/Zimmerman.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old German zimmer could refer not only to a room, but also to the timber or wooden frame of a building, which is why the surname has a carpentry connection.
From the historical record
“[Gr. eS-, noble -f- 7^yos, race, descent] Cormac's Glossary gives this, origin for £o^a« (one MS. Eo^en) ; and Zimmer con- siders Owen to be borrowed from 'Lat. Eugenius, as noted by MacBain, p. 400. The mediaeval Latinizatipn of Owen as Oenus led to a belief that the etymology was the Wei. and Bret, oen, ' a lamb.'”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)