Koenig Family History
Koenig Name Meaning
German (mainly König) and Jewish (Ashkenazic; also König): from Middle High German künic German König ‘king’ hence a German nickname for a servant or retainer of a king (for example a farmer on a royal demesne) or alternatively a status name for the head of a craftmen's guild or a society of sharpshooters or minstrels. As a Jewish surname it is artificial one of several such Ashkenazic names based on European titles of nobility or royalty. The surname Koenig is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine) and Poland. In eastern Germany the surname König is in part a Germanized form (translation into German) of Sorbian Kral ‘king’. Similarly in Czechia Poland Slovenia and Croatia it was often applied as a translation into German of Czech Polish Slovenian and Croatian cognates Král (see Kral ) Król (see Krol ) and Kralj respectively. Compare Konig . In some cases also an American shortened form of the compound artificial Jewish names of which Koenig is the first element as for example Koenigfest.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022