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Guinther: Family Name, Meaning, History, and More

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Guinther: Family Name, Meaning, History, and More

If your last name is Guinther, you have one of the rarest family names in the world. If it is not your last name, it is unlikely that you'll meet someone with the last name Guinther because of the rarity of this family name. In fact, less than one person in every 625,000 people share this last name!

According to Forebears, this family name is the 329,025th most common surname in the world, with an estimated 1,127 people sharing it. We will explore the origins and meaning of this unusual family name. Additionally, we will also offer tips for researching rare family names.

Origins and Meanings of the Guinther Family Name

Guinther is the Americanized version of the German first name Guenther. This family name comes from the German words gund (battle) and heri (army). Coincidentally, this name is also related to the names Gunter, Gunther, and Guenter. That is because these names also stem from the same German words. However, Guinther is a less commonly found last name worldwide compared to the other names.

Guinther is mainly found in the United States, probably because German immigrants changed the spelling of their last names once they arrived in America. The Guinther family name is primarily found in three states: Ohio (18%), California (10%), and Texas (8%). In addition to the United States, this family name also appears in eight other countries, including Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and Paraguay.

The Flag of Germany on the World Map.
Guinther is a rare family name, likely because it is an Americanized version of a German name.

©hyotographics/Shutterstock.com

Family Names Similar to Guinther

It can be helpful to consider other family names that are similar to Guinther when conducting genealogy research. Considering similar last names may aid you in tracing your family history. Many names were either changed or misspelled in the past. This is particularly true for family names that date back to the Middle Ages when spelling rules were not standardized. As a result, most words were spelled phonetically. Here are a few names that are phonetically similar to the last name Guinther.

  • Gunter
  • Gunther
  • Ginther
  • Guenther
  • Gwinther
  • Hginther
  • Quinther
  • Winther
  • Ginter
  • Kinter

Additionally, there may be more surnames associated with the Guinther family name. Keep an open mind to the potential connections these names might offer when researching this uncommon name.

The Guinther Family Name Online

There are many online records for the family name Guinther. The popular Ancestry website has approximately 14,000 records for the name, including birth and marriage records, military histories, immigration records, census data, and voter lists. In addition to digitized records, many other researchers share their family trees online to help other researchers connect with family members. A particularly useful website is Guinther.com, which has a number of family-specific resources to consider.

However, not all genealogy records are online. Consider old-fashioned research at academic or public libraries, which often have a plethora of resources. Also, consider researching church records for marriages, births, and deaths. If you find new information this way, consider sharing it online to help other researchers.

Tips For Genealogy Research

If you are a beginner family researcher, here are a few useful tips to keep in mind.

  • Start by documenting your family history, beginning with your grandparents and moving backwards in time, carefully noting each generation.
  • Consider your goals carefully and ask specific questions to avoid falling down a research rabbit hole.
  • Feel free to ask for assistance from others. Collaboration is key to successful genealogy research.
  • Always remember that spelling mistakes and transcription errors can hinder even the most precise genealogy search. This problem is why it is usually necessary to find original records. Fortunately, many online genealogy collections have digitized the original records.
  • To ensure accurate genealogical research, carefully evaluate your sources and flag any data errors. Consider research records in the context of their age, location, and social history to validate their authenticity.
  • Organize and cite all of your research because genealogy research can quickly devolve into chaos. Additionally, make backup copies of your research in multiple places so that an accident does not erase all of your work.
  • Take advantage of the growing number of genealogy research tools available online. By sharing your family history online, you may be able to help other researchers find the missing pieces of their own family tree. The development of member family trees, DNA testing websites, and social media groups dedicated to specific families has revolutionized the field of genealogy research.
  • Finally, and this is important, enjoy the journey. Sometimes, it is easy to forget that this research should be fun. Also, celebrate your family's history and legacy, as it is part of what makes you unique.

Hopefully, these tips will assist you in researching family names, even rare ones such as Guinther.

Focused young Caucasian woman in glasses sit on couch at desk work on laptop read paperwork, concentrated millennial businesswoman manage paper documents, pay bills or taxes, use computer at home
There are online genealogy records available for this family name, which include census, military, and immigration information.

©fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Trivia About the Guinther Family Name

Now that we know the meaning and origins of the Guinther last name, here are some interesting facts about this family name.

  • While Guinther is occasionally a first name, it is also rare. From 1880 to 2021, fewer than five babies were named Guinther each year.
  • The 2010 United States census recorded 468 occurrences of the Guinther last name. If you took a sample of 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0.16% of them would have the last name Guinther.
  • Furthermore, in the 2010 United States census, approximately 450 people with this last name self-identified as “Non-Hispanic White Only.”
  • Moreover, the family name Guinther appeared most frequently in the United States census data of 1880.
  • In 1940, the most common jobs for men and women with the last name Guinther in the United States were laborer and clerk, respectively. Forty percent of men name Guinther worked as laborers and seventeen percent of Guinther women worked as clerks.
  • Research data also indicates that 53.22% of US residents named Guinther are registered as Republicans, which is 6.45% higher than national average.
  • Guinther earnings vary across different countries. People with the last name Guinther earn an average of $40,734 per year in the United States. This is 5.6% below the national average. In Canada, they earn approximately $33,541 per year, which is 32.49% below the national average.
  • From 1952 to 2004, life expectancy for those named Guinther in the United States hit its lowest point in 1953 and peaked in 1992. The average life expectancy in 1953 was sixty-three years, while in 1992 it had increased to seventy-one years.
  • Guinther spelled backwards is “Rehtniug.”
  • The numerology value of the family name Guinther is three. Numerology assigns numerical values to letters in a word, name, or phrase to determine their significance. Mystics believe numerology reveals insights into personality traits and predicts future events. In numerology, the number three represents communicators and artists.
Senior woman polling form of marketing research or census of population at her apartment
Census data contains a lot of information about the Guinther family.

©BearFotos/Shutterstock.com

In Summary

If your last name is Guinther, then you belong to one of the rarest families in the world. This family name is the Americanized version of the German name Gunther, which may explain why it is so unique.

If you are currently researching this last name, many online resources can provide you with helpful information to aid in your genealogy research. Much of this family's history can be found in census data, immigration records, as well as birth and marriage histories.

Although researching rarer family names can be more challenging, it can also be more exciting. There are plenty of stories still waiting to be discovered and shared about the Guinther family name.

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