Is Spiezer a Hebrew German name ?

Question

I was going over my Genealogy. I am wondering if this is A Hebrew Name.

Answer 1

Two of my favorite places didn't turn up much. Nothing on rootsweb family files, and ssdi only one person, who d. in Chicago. Last stop is google.
I know from experience that sometimes the brick wall in research is that a name has been changed for some reason, making it very rare. Also, names die out, due to sons dying, and only daughters who don't carry on the name.
I found one reference in google, and if by ANY chance it is your relatives, it is an incredible story. Mother in the story was a Spiezer by birth (did she have brothers?), who is described as Jewish but didn't keep Kosher.
This family went into the concentration camps in Europe, thus they absolutely were Jewish. Those circumstances also remind me of one very legitimate reason for some persons who may change a name, literally for survival. It may also be a very good reason for loss of records for your research.
http://www.centropa.org/archive.asp?mode=bio&DB=HIST&fn=Vera&ln=Tomanic&country=Serbia
PLEASE, I would really enjoy knowing if this connects to your lineage, and see if I can't help you learn more. You can send a message via my profile.

Answer 2

It could be a geographical name referring to the Swiss town of Spiez (in the canton of Bern). A lot of Jewish names are geographical, but so are a lot of non-Jewish German names. So from the name itself it is not possible to conclude whether its bearers were Jewish or not.
Another thing: Have you checked if the spelling was inverted? That happens with a lot of German words with either "ie" or "ei" spelling in English! You might be looking for the surname Speizer...

Answer 3

Hey Moehog,

Swyrich.com let me down, the name was not found there. If you don't get a definitive answer, you can consult the resources below. The Genforum should be able to answer this question with authority. The Shamash.org has many resoruces for this purpose too.