Goethe (also ''Göthe'' and ''Gœthe'') is a

German surname Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names (''Vorname'', plural ''Vornamen'') and a surname (''Nachname, Familienname''). The ''Vorname'' is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the " Western or ...

. It is best known for

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

(1749–1832). It belongs to the group of surnames derived from given names, in this case given names in ''Got-'', in most cases likely ''

Gottfried Gottfried is a masculine German given name. It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century. The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) a ...

'' (c.f. ''

Götz Götz or Goetz () is a German name, in origin a hypocorism of '' Gottfried''. It remains in use as a short form of ''Gottfried'', but it has also become a surname. Surnames ;Goetz * Alphonse Goetz (1865-1934), French chess master * Arturo Goetz, ...

''). Variants of the surname include '' Göth'', '' Goeth'' and ''Göthke'', ''Götke''. The name is comparatively rare; the German phonebook (as of 2013) has 176 entries for ''Göthe'' and 168 entries for ''Goethe''; 179 entries for '' Göth'' and 28 entries for '' Goeth''; 11 entries for ''Götke'' and 2 entries for ''Göthke''.Goethe (verwandt.de)

List of people with the surname

Members of

's family bearing the surname: *his great-grandfather, Hans Christian Göthe (fl. 1650s), a blacksmith of

Kannawurf Kannawurf is a village and a former municipality in the Sömmerda district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Kindelbrück Kindelbrück () is a municipality in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, married Sibylla Werner *his grandfather Friedrich Georg Göthe (6 September 1657 – 10 November 1730), lived in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

but in 1685 with the suspension of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

was forced to move to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. *his parents,

Johann Caspar Goethe Johann Caspar Goethe (29 July 1710 – 25 May 1782) was a wealthy German jurist and royal councillor to the Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire. His son, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is considered one of the greatest German poets and authors of all ti ...

(29 July 1710 – 25 May 1782) and

Catharina Elisabeth Goethe Catharina Elisabeth Goethe, born Catharina Elisabeth Textor, (19 February 1731 – 13 September 1808) was the mother of German playwright and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his sister Cornelia Schlosser. She was also known by the nickname Fra ...

, née Textor (19 February 1731 - 13 September 1808) *his wife (m. 1806) and former mistress

Christiane von Goethe Johanna Christiana Sophie Vulpius von Goethe (1 June 1765 – 6 June 1816) was the longtime lover and later wife of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography Vulpius spent her childhood in ''Luthergasse'', one of the oldest parts of Weimar. Her pat ...

(1765-1816) née Vulpius *their son

August von Goethe August von Goethe, portrait by Julie Gräfin Egloffstein Julius August Walther von Goethe (25 December 1789 – 27 October 1830) was the only one of the five children of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christiane Vulpius to survive into adult ...

(born out of wedlock 25 December 1789, died 28 October 1830), and his wife Ottilie von Goethe, née von Pogwisch (31 October 1796 – 26 October 1872). Other people called Goethe, Göthe or Gothe: *

Bror Geijer Göthe Bror Geijer Göthe (1892–1949) was a Swedish artist, painter and textile artist who revived late medieval methods. Life He was born in the Stockholm parish of Maria Magdalena Church, Maria Magdalena in 1892 and grew up in the suburb of Dju ...

(1892–1949), Swedish artist *

Charles Goethe Charles Matthias Goethe (March 28, 1875 – July 10, 1966) was an American eugenicist, entrepreneur, land developer, philanthropist, conservationist, founder of the Eugenics Society of Northern California, and a native and lifelong resident of ...

(1875–1966), American activist *

Dieter Göthe Dieter Göthe is a retired East German slalom canoeist who competed from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. He won four medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold (C-2 team: 1959), a silver (C-2 team: 1955) and two bronzes (C- ...

(fl. 1950s), East German slalom canoer * Erik Gustaf Göthe (1779 – 1838) Swedish sculptor *

Florian Gothe Florian Gothe (born 9 August 1962 in Bochum) is a retired German football defender. and current President of the Vereinigung der Vertragsfußballspieler (VDV). Career Gothe, who started playing football at the age of eight at Post SV Bochum, ...

(born 1962) retired German football defender * Franz Goethe (1881-1921), Deutsch artist *

Johann Friedrich Eosander von Göthe Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

(1669–1728) — German Late-Baroque architect *

Jurgen Gothe Jurgen Gothe (April 4, 1944 – April 9, 2015) was a German-born Canadian radio broadcaster and print columnist. For 23 years, from 1985 to 2008, he was host of the national classical music program ''DiscDrive'', which aired across Canada on CBC ...

(1944 - 2015) Canadian radio host *

Matthias Goethe Matthias Goethe (29 March 1827 – 25 October 1876), also known as Matthias Göthe or Matthias Goëthe, was pastor of the Lutheran Trinity Church in East Melbourne, Australia, for 14 years from 25 March 1853 to 15 December 1867. He helped form ...

(1827–1876) German-Australian pastor *

Odd Christian Gøthe Odd Christian Gøthe (30 December 1919 – 23 September 2002) was a Norwegian civil servant and politician for the Labour Party. Education and career by education, and was head of economics in the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 19 ...

(1919 - 2002) Norwegian civil servant and politician *

Oliver Goethe Oliver Goethe (born 14 October 2004) is a Danish-German racing driver based in Monaco, who is set to compete in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident. He is the current champion of the Euroformula Open Championship by winning eleven rac ...

(*2004) Danish-German racing driver *

Staffan Göthe Lars ''Staffan'' Göthe (born 20 December 1944, in Luleå), is a Swedish playwright, actor and director.DramaDirectory He is also a professor at Malmö Theatre Academy (Teaterhögskolan i Malmö) at Lund University. He graduated from the Gothenbu ...

(born 1944) Swedish playwright, actor and director

References

{{surname German-language surnames Surnames from given names

List of people with the surname

See also

References