Brief Life History of Barbara
When Barbara Meyer was born on 11 February 1792, in Schöfflisdorf, Zürich, Switzerland, her father, Leonhard Meyer, was 40 and her mother, Regula Bräm, was 37.
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Family Time Line
Sources (1)
- Legacy NFS Source: Barbara Meyer - Church record: Birth record or certificate: birth-name: Barbara Meyer
Parents and Siblings
World Events (3)
1798
Revolution in Switzerland. Farmers in occupied territories become free citizens. Centralistic parliamentary republic according to French model. Occupation by French troops and some battles of Napoleon vs. Austria and Russia in Switzerland.
1800
Switzerland is one of the first industrialized countries in Europe.
1803
Civil war brings Helvetic Republic to an end. French emperor Napoleon enforces a constitution negotiated under his "mediation".
Name Meaning
German and Swiss German: from Middle High German meier, a status name for a steward, bailiff, or overseer, which later came to be used also to denote a tenant farmer, which is normally the sense in the many compound surnames formed with this term as a second element. Originally it denoted a village headman (ultimately from Latin maior ‘greater, superior’). This form of the surname is also established in France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine); see also 3 below. Compare Maier , Mayer , Meier , and Myer .
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Meyer, from Hebrew Meir ‘enlightener’, a derivative of or ‘light’ with the prefix m-. Compare Maier , Majer , Major , Mayer , Mayor , Meier , and Meir .
Dutch: variant, also Flemish and Americanized, of Meijer , a cognate of 1 above. This surname is also established in South Africa, where it was also brought from France (see 1 above).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Possible Related Names
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