Newgrosh

This is one of the most unusual surnames that we have ever been called upon to research. It is almost certainly of Germanic origins, although not recorded in the spelling of Newgrosch in either Germany, Austria or Switzerland, as far as we are aware. However it does bear a remarkable similarity to a very rare Germanic surname Neugrsch, as spelt. This surname is believed to be a locational surname, although we have not been able to find any place so named. This is not in itself unusual. Many locational surnames originate from very tiny hamlets or even single farms, some of which in the course of time have been abandoned and have disappeared completely, or have changed their spelling to something else, or have been swallowed up in the ever increasing advance of suburbia. The spelling of 'Neugsch' suggests that the meaning of the name is 'the new place' or similar, but again this is open to other interpretations. Examples of the surname recording taken from surviving German church registers of the 18th century include: Jacob Neugoesser, a name spelling which suggests that he may have been an inhabitant of a place called Gsch or Goess. He was a witness at Ilbesheim Evangelical church, Pfalz, Bayen, on July 18th 1781, and George Neugsch and his wife Susanna, who registered the birth and christening of their son also called George, at Punitz, Posen, on January 22nd 1822.