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 a ...

: 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 Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

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 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 Allen Edward Ertel (November 7, 1937 – November 19, 2015) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district from 1977 to 1983. Early life Allen Er ...

(1937–2015), American politician * Frank Ertel Carlyle (1897–1960), American politician *

Hans Ertel Hans Ertel (March 24, 1904 in Berlin – July 2, 1971 in Berlin) was a German natural scientist and a pioneer in geophysics, meteorology and hydrodynamics. Life and work Hans Ertel began his scientific career at the former ''Preußischen Meteorolog ...

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

Mark Ertel Mark Anthony Ertel (February 26, 1919 – March 1, 2010) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball League for the Indianapolis Kautskys during the 1941–42 season and averaged 3.3 points per game. He al ...

(1919–2010), American professional basketball player

References

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