Family name origins & meanings
- German : ostensibly a topographic name for someone who lived in a house that was situated higher than others nearby, e.g. at the upper end of a village, from oben ‘up’, ‘above’ + Haus ‘house’ (Middle High German oben(e) ‘up’, ‘above’ + hūs ‘house’). However, it may actually be a hypercorrected form of Obenaus, a nickname for an upstart, a reduced form of oben hinaus (oben ‘up’, ‘above’ + hinaus ‘out’, indicating direction).