Niemiec

Recorded in many spellings including Nemchin, Nemchinov (Russian), Nimchuk (Ukraine), Niemiec (Polish), Nemec (Czech), Niemetz, Nimitz, Niemsch (German), Niemiec (Jewish), Nemet and Nemeth (Hungarian), this is a surname of Russian Slavonic origins. It is essentially ethnic from the word nemchin, and describes a German or at least a German speaker. Apparently the intrinsic dislike of foreigners is not just a British trait, it is one shared rightly or wrongly with most nations, and especially ones who have suffered from continual foreign invasions of one sort or another. This is shown in the origination of the name in that nemchin is ultimately from the Old Slavonic word nemoi which means dumb. This was used in the sense of being a barbarian and unable to speak properly! Given such a background it may be considered surprising that this name has survived at all, but the same could be applied to many names, even such apparently harmless ones as White. This was probably an ethnic term for a Norseman or Viking. These people had very fair hair, and to put it mildy, were exceedingly unpopular amongst the Anglo-Saxons.