Wander

Family name origins & meanings

• German : occupational name for a builder, one who built walls, from an agent derivative of Middle High German want ‘wall’ (from Old High German wenten ‘to wind or weave’; the earliest domestic walls were of wattle and daub construction, made from woven hurdles packed with clay).
• German : occupational name for a maker or seller of cloth, from an agent derivative of a reduced form of Middle High German gewant ‘cloth’, ‘garment’ (from Old High German giwant, likewise a derivative of wenten ‘to weave’).
• Jewish (Ashkenazic) : variant of Wanderer, a nickname from Yiddish vandern ‘to wander or hike’.