Origin, meaning, distribution — researched in historical sources, told in two minutes.
If you like, you can take a certificate (€3.90) or a personal video (€9.90) with you afterwards — one-time, no subscription. But you don't have to.
The video and the research turned out brilliantly – it went down a storm in the family group, my grandpa was really moved.
I think the concept is truly brilliant.
Thank you so much for this detailed info – sooo fascinating.
Surnames know no borders — neither do we. We research names from all over Europe: German, Polish, French, Dutch, Italian, Austrian, Swiss, Czech, Hungarian and many more. Video, certificate and book are available in German or English.
For countries without their own distribution data, we tell the story of the name through language, region of origin and historical maps — honestly labelled, nothing invented.
Prefer German? Switch to the German version.
NamensArchiv is a project by Deutsche Chroniken — a small team from Berlin that makes videos about German history and family names. You may know us from TikTok. Here we research every name individually, with real sources, and publish the result for free.
If that is worth something to you: a few euros keep the research free for everyone and fund the next videos. No subscription, no obligation.
Thank you to everyone who has already done so — honestly.
For each name, the first sentence of its file — live from the archive.
In-depth pages on common family names: origin, meaning, distribution, spelling variants.
Further reading (in German): How family names came to be · Why there is no coat of arms for your surname · What a name reveals about the region · all articles in the magazine
Our research is now searching historical registers, name dictionaries and distribution data. This takes about a minute.
Unlock the full name history with a short ad — that is what keeps NamensArchiv free for everyone.
Almost done. Tip: afterwards, the finished file is also available as a certificate to frame (€3.90) or as your own name video — the research itself stays free.
Someone sent you the file “Noak”. What about your name?
That was the short version. Unlock the full file — origin, history of distribution and historical name bearers — with a short ad.
Know more about the name ? Leave your family knowledge in the archive →
Every name is researched individually — no database dump, no copy-paste. If the file was worth something to you: leave a few euros, and it stays free for the next person.
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The short version above is free and takes two minutes. For your video, we research your name again thoroughly — with evidence and sources:
The research takes up to 48 hours — that is why the video arrives by e-mail.
For someone else? Go to the video gift with dedication and card →
Ordered from this page, your video, certificate and book are produced in English. Payment receipts from Stripe may be in German.
The archive keeps going anyway — carried by readers who leave the price of a coffee. Voluntary, nothing in return, takes 20 seconds.
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