upper-class German family names

[kindkit]

Once again I turn to the German-speaking folks in my circle for help. I need a family name for a character who doesn't have one canonically. He's a career German army officer, probably born about 1890, who is a colonel (Oberst) when we meet him in 1940. My guess is that his family background is upper class but probably not aristocratic. Any suggestions for good names?

I've googled for German surnames but I'm not pulling up enough information to judge social connotations, though I'm assuming that names with occupational associations are ones to avoid.

Comments

[vilakins]

You could still use "von" plus a place name (preferably a village) that appeals to you; not all vons are titled.

Otherwise: Gottlieb (love of God), Adler (eagle), Bohm (Bohemian - geog.), Jaeger (hunter), Loewe (lion), Fuerst (Prince), Ritter (knight)?

I should add that I've used the umlaut-less versions there.

[selenak]

Upper class but not aristocratic family names from the relevant period which aren't so rare that they could only mean one particular family:

North German:
- Mann (yes, like Thoma M.; Lübeck senators and their kids qualify)
- Poggenpohl
- Briest

South German:

- Schirnding
- Ude
- Feldner

Do not use a von. That is such a cliché from English speaking writers, and always annoys me when I come across it. We really don't have that many of them.

....to be fair: Robert Graves still gets published as Robert von Ranke-Graves in German, but that was a) his actual full name (see relavant passage in memoirs about teasing and bullying in school for it) and b) his choice when alive.

[shehasathree]

I vote for Klink! ;p
(We have Klink relatives and my partner still cannot not-giggle every time he hears them referred to.)

[shadowvalkyrie]

Like someone already said: you'd need to give a regional background. North, or South, at the very least. Bavarians, for instance, have very different names from people up here. Back then he also could also have easily been from East Prussia, which also has very particular names.

And not all occupational surnames have lower-class connotations -- not that late in the 19th century, anyway.