Krieg
A German surname from the word for “war,” likely first used as a nickname or as part of an older warrior-name tradition.
The #7,695 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,568 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Krieg is the ordinary German word for “war,” from Old High German and Middle High German forms such as krieg/kriec. As a surname, it most likely began as a nickname for a soldier, a warlike person, or someone associated with conflict or martial qualities. In older Germanic naming traditions, words connected with battle and warfare were especially common in personal names, which may also have helped this surname persist.
History
The name is chiefly associated with German-speaking areas and appears in historical surname collections as a straightforward German word-name. Related forms such as Krieger show the same martial root with the occupational-looking agent suffix -er. In English-speaking countries, Krieg is usually found among immigrant families and descendants of German migrants.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root appears in many older Germanic names and compounds tied to battle, war, and heroic strength.
From the historical record
“KRIEGER (Ger.) Warrior, Soldier [f. (with agent, suff. -er) Ger. krieg, war; M.H.Ger. kriec, krieg; O.H.Ger. chreg, firmness, pertinacity]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)