Updated June 9, 2019

Find Baby Names

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : topographic name for someone who lived by or owned a water meadow at the upper end of a village, or held land there, from oben ‘up’, ‘above’ + Au ‘water meadow’ (Middle High German oben ‘up’, ‘above’ + ouwe ‘water meadow’) + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant.