Rothschild
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Rothschild is a German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname.
The most notable family with this surname is the Mayer Amschel Rothschild family. This famous banking family took it from a house so marked in the Jewish quarter of Frankfurt-am-Main, but the name has also been adopted by many Ashkenazic Jews unrelated to the family.
Meaning
Rothschild is a habitational name from a house distinguished with a red sign (Middle High German rōt ‘red’ + schilt ‘sign’, ‘shield’), the earliest recorded example dating from the 13th century.
In Britain the surname is normally given the spelling pronunciation ‘Roths-child’; the original pronunciation is ‘Rote-shilt’.
References
- Hanks, Patrick Dictionary of American Family Names Oxford University Press ISBN 0195081374