Ertel is a surname originating from

South Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

: from a personalized form of a name beginning with Ort-, from

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

"ort": "point (of a sword or lance)." Ertel may also mean "Steel Smith." Ertel may be a derivation of other surnames, including " Ertl" and "Ertle." This surname of ERTEL has two origins. It was a Provençal occupational name for a gardener or a

topographic name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

for someone who lived near an enclosed garden. The name developed in the Latin form HORTUS via

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

documents. It was also a German name for someone who lived at the top of a hill or the end of a settlement, derived from the Old German word ORT, in the transferred sense “tip” or “extremity.” The name has numerous variant spellings which include ERTLER, ORT, DELORT, DESHORTS, HUERTA, HORTA, OHRTMAN, VAN OORT, ORTET and ORTEL, to name but a few. Although some have changed the name of a variety of personal reasons, a common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. Among the lower classes of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an society, and especially among less educated people, people were willing to accept the mistakes of officials, clerks, and priests as an official new version of their surname, just as they had meekly accepted the surname they had been born with. In

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, the linguistic problems confronting immigration officials at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

in the 19th century were legendary as a prolific source of

Anglicization Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Culture of England, English culture or Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English ...

.Interview with Jeanette Ertel, July 2, 2002

Notable bearers of this name include

* Allen E. Ertel (1937–2015), former

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

*Bob Ertel (19??–19??), American comedian and member of the Holy Ghost Players *

Frank Ertel Carlyle Frank Ertel Carlyle (April 7, 1897 – October 2, 1960) was a United States representative of the Democratic Party from the state of North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Career After serving in the ...

(1897–1960), former

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Representative for the

* Hans Ertel (1904–1971), German scientist *

Julie Ertel Julie Ertel (born Julie Swail on December 27, 1972) is an Americans, American water polo player who was the team captain of the US Women's National Team that captured the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She competed in the triathlon at ...

(born 1972), American

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player *Janet Ertel (1913–1988), American singer and member of

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit songs " Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop". Career The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The origin ...

* Mark Ertel (1919–2010), American professional basketball player *Nathan W. Ertel (born 1974), American physician *Patrick Ertel (born 1950), author, historian, photographer *Suitbert Ertel (born 1932), German scientist working on the

Mars Effect The Mars effect is a purported statistical correlation between athletic eminence and the position of the planet Mars relative to the horizon at time and place of birth. This controversial finding was first reported by the French psychologist a ...

*Richard Ertel (born 1979), New Zealand Chief Information Officer

References

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