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The Niemuth
Family
-- The Name
--
- NIEMUTH--
-
- Okay, we all agree that Niemuth
(or it's Great Plains variation, Niemoth) is not a common name.
What is not agreed upon is the name's origin. My efforts to find
a difinitive source on the name have failed.
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- I have heard from several different
branches of the family tree that "no mouth" and "new
mouth" are accepted definitions of our surname. The basis
for this theory arises more from our own English language than
from any Germanic source. The suffix of the surname, -muth, takes
its cue from the English "mouth"--solely on similar
pronunciation and spelling. The prefix, "Nie-," is
taken to mean "no" or "new." Together, by
this theory, the surname Niemuth is a descriptive term (as most
surnames are) of the idea that the Niemuth family moved to the
Baltic Sea region (Menkewitz) where the local language was not
German. Hence, the natives called our ancestors Niemuth because
they couldn't speak the language (no mouth) or spoke a different
language (new mouth). But why would people who spoke a language
other than German use German word bases to describe a new family?
They wouldn't.
-
- In German, the prefix "nie-"
usually means "never, at no time." The German "Mut"
is defined as "courage." Does this mean our surname
means "never courageous?" Again, just a theory.
-
- While doing an internet search on
"Neimoth" (I often do searches under the common misspellings
of the surname), I ran across a book entitled "Neimoth Eber."
This book was originally by Lord Byron, and was translated into
Hebrew in 1862 by Matitjahu Simche Rabener, a Hebrew scholar
and poet. I posted a query on a Jewish message board asking for
someone to translate the book's title for me. A kind gentleman
informed me that "Neimot" in Hebrew is the plural of
"Neima," which means melody, tune, or song. This information
adds another interesting possibility to our surname.
-
- In Larry Gene Niemoth's 1993 book,
The Family of: August "Herman" Niemoth, Shirley
Helzer writes that our surname may be of German or Dutch origin.
-
- The Dictionary of American Family
Names (Oxford University Press) states that Niemuth (German)
is "probably a nickname, either for a cheerful person, from
Middle Low German nie, nige mot ‘new spirit’; or, in
the south, for a belligerent or aggressive person, from Middle
High German nit ‘hostile attitude’ + muot ‘attitude’,
‘sense’."
- NIEMOTH--
-
- So how did the Niemoth spelling
originate? Larry writes:
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- At the time when John Niemoth
recorded his deed at the Hall County Register of Deeds, the gentleman
there informed John his name would have to be spelled with an
"o" in order to achieve the proper pronunciation. Hence,
the Niemuths who remained in Wisconsin, and their descendants,
retain the original spelling; while the Niemoth settlers, and
their descendants, all spell their name with an "o."
-
- Works for me. Any other theories?
- PRONUNCIATIONS--
-
- I call them the long version and
short version. The long version is from my husband's branch (Sheboygan
area). They pronounce the name "NEE-mooth." The short
version I learned in high school from a fellow student (little
did I know we'd be distant cousins some day). He pronounced the
name "NEE-muhth." If one's in a hurry, I hear "NEE-mith"
is acceptable.
- OTHER VARIATIONS--
-
- Of course, there are many accidental
misspellings of both versions of our surname. A few are:
- Neimoth
- Neimuth
- Niamoth
- Niemath
- Nimmauth
- Nimot
- Nimoth
- I'd love to hear about any problems
(in spelling or pronunciation) that you have had with the Niemuth
or Niemoth surname. Very few of the misspellings can be traced
to a source, and most of these errors are not on what anyone
would term "official documents." One example that fits
into the official category is my sister-in-law's birth certificate
recorded her last name "Neimuth." She discovered this
error when she applied for her marriage license.
-
- An unofficial document, but one
I find amusing is my husband's Blockbuster card... Niomuth. We
spotted it immediately, checked to make sure that the card was
still be valid with that spelling, and promptly ignored it. The
young man responsible for the error said that the form I had
filled out was a bit sloppy -- he couldn't tell if it was an
"e" or an "o." I must have been having a
really bad day, for I always fill out forms in capitals only.
Anyhow, everytime we try to rent a move, we receive, "Wow!
How do you pronounce that?" Good question.
-
- Having been born a "Jones,"
I enjoy having a less common--extremely less common--surname.
I shrug off the misspellings and mispronunciations with a smile.
And, when a telemarketer calls, I always halt him with the name
game. They invariably mispronounce our surname when asking for
my husband. "You have three chances to pronounce our surname
correctly. If you manage to get it right, I'll let you talk to
him." Funny, my husband hasn't talked to a telemarketer
in years...
-
- On a side note, I once heard my
maiden name of Jones mispronounced as "JO-ness" over
a loudspeaker. Go figure.
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