When Laura B Wagner was born about 1879, in Dexter, Cowley, Kansas, United States, her father, Thomas Harvey Wagner, was 28 and her mother, Melvina Ellen Hightower, was 26. She died on 20 March 1879, in her hometown, at the age of 1.
Do you know Laura B? Do you have a story about her that you would like to share? Sign In or Create a FREE Account
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Wägner): occupational name for a carter and (in some dialects) a cartwright, from an agent derivative of Middle High German wagen ‘cart, wagon’, German Wagen. This surname is also established in many other parts of Europe, notably in France (Alsace and Lorraine), Britain, Poland, and Denmark. In Hungary it is mostly spelled Wágner and Vágner. In Russia, Czechia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Slovakia it is also found in the Slavicized form Vagner . Compare Wagener , Waggener , and Wagoner .
Dutch and perhaps also English: occupational name from Middle Dutch waghenaer ‘carter’ (compare 1 above). The Dutch word is not known to have been borrowed into English before 1600 but the surname Wagner is recorded in Norfolk (England) from 1379, perhaps a substitution of the Dutch word for Middle English wainer. Compare Waggoner .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Possible Related NamesAs a nonprofit, we offer free help to those looking to learn the details of their family story.