On July, 2014 I presented the first theory advocated by some of us. On September, 2014 I suggested the second theory. Today, I will explain the third and actually the last possible origin of our surname.
According to the first theory, our family name represents a sort of fusion of Schoch and Maier when two families had united their businesses and married their children))). As for the second theory, it was speculated that Schochenmaier is a surname of occupational origin, thus the very first Schochenmaiers could be chiefs or heads of those who ricked /cocked or stacked/ the hay.
The third theory represents the Schochenmaier as an alloy of occupational and topographic (or toponymic) names. With intent to distinct it from the second one, I will call it simply "toponymic origin" (topos in Greek means "place", so toponym is place-name). It states that, as well as in the second theory, the part "Maier" is of occupational or job-related origin, but the first part "Schochen" is going from a toponym, where our ancestor became a "maier" (mayor!).
Well, the part "schO/Achen" could be related to a place in Germany (or German-speaking area). Let's give some examples of such places:
1. Schochen is a mountain of Bavaria in the Allgäu Alps near Oberstdorf:
It's already the South Swabia.
2. This mountain range is to be found in Austria as well. There you can climb on the Schochenspitze (Schochen Peak).
3. Schochenhof (Schochen Farm) is a part of the Upper Swabian Ottobeuren that is a municipality in Bavaria, located 11 km southeast of Memmingen. It is famous for Ottobeuren Abbey, situated next to the Basilica.
4. Schochenbach (Schochen Creek) is the local name for a 2 km long tributary valley in Katzensteig and belongs to the town of Furtwangen in the Black Forest region of south western Germany. The small valley extends from northwest to southeast. The valley floor is 880-960 m above sea level.
5. Schochenwinkel (Schochen Corner) - is a field place within Bahlingen, not far from the Schochenbach, closer to France.
To that list you may add a dozen of Schochen field names on the Swiss coast of the Constance Lake and several street names, like Schochenweg (Schochen way) in Landshut (Bavaria), Schochengasse, Schochenstrasse, Schochenhaus, etc. However, you'll see only two distinctive clusters where the "schochen"-based place-names are to be found: near Alsace in Baden (Nr. 4 and 5) or Upper Swabia (Nr. 1-3). As you can see, we are squeezed between the Badish and Swabish regions again...
If Schochen part is to be rooted in place-names, let's map all geonames (geographical names), which contain "schochen" or "schachen" in the German-speaking countries or in the former parts of the Germany. I did it easily by means of Google Maps highlighting the "schochen"-based names by red and "schachen"-based names by blue. What did I get?
Let's have a look:
A considerable majority of dots (around 25) are to be found in the Southern Germany (plus one in Hesse) except 7 places in the Northern Switzerland and 6 places in the Western Austria. So, it demonstrates a sort of continuum in space.
After studying this map, I drew the following conclusions:
1. There are more "schAchen"- than "schOchen"-based place-names;
2. In some general features, this map corresponds to the map of today's schO/Achenmaier distribution from http://schochenmaiers.blogspot.de/2014_06_01_archive.html
3. The two highest concentrations of "schachen" (blue!) in the Southern Bavaria, close to the Swiss border, may explain why lots of Schachenmayrs are living there. The more red German South West gives us to think of the presence of some Schochenmaiers at those regions. By thinking so, we may conclude that some of "schAchenmayrs" could be of toponymic origin. But, the highest concentration of the schAchenmayrs is to be overlapped with "schOchen" placenames in the South Swabia!!! How can it be?
We must be very careful with our results. Accidentally, I stumbled upon a report from the archives which told that some places in Upper Swabia (Southern Germany, in the middle!!!) had been renamed in 1526 near Ravensburg:
It's very interesting to get to know that "Schachen" was replaced by "Schochen" ! What does it mean? Is it a dialect change? It's in the 16ing century... If our family name hadn't been formed yet at that time, then the schOchenmaiers could be a separate family. And if our family had already existed, then there is a possibility that we are remote relatives...
4. If the toponymic theory is right, then the Schochenmaiers originate from the Upper Swabia (near Switzerland and Austria) or South Baden (near France) during the 16th-17th century century (f.ex. Leopold Schochenmeyer in 1630s around Freiburg!), but then from the beginning of the 18th century they removed and in the course of the 19th century multiplied themselves in the Lower Swabia or North Baden (Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Heilbronn, etc.).
Well, it's more complicated than I thought, but that's why it's getting much more interesting)))
According to the first theory, our family name represents a sort of fusion of Schoch and Maier when two families had united their businesses and married their children))). As for the second theory, it was speculated that Schochenmaier is a surname of occupational origin, thus the very first Schochenmaiers could be chiefs or heads of those who ricked /cocked or stacked/ the hay.
The third theory represents the Schochenmaier as an alloy of occupational and topographic (or toponymic) names. With intent to distinct it from the second one, I will call it simply "toponymic origin" (topos in Greek means "place", so toponym is place-name). It states that, as well as in the second theory, the part "Maier" is of occupational or job-related origin, but the first part "Schochen" is going from a toponym, where our ancestor became a "maier" (mayor!).
Well, the part "schO/Achen" could be related to a place in Germany (or German-speaking area). Let's give some examples of such places:
1. Schochen is a mountain of Bavaria in the Allgäu Alps near Oberstdorf:
It's already the South Swabia.
2. This mountain range is to be found in Austria as well. There you can climb on the Schochenspitze (Schochen Peak).
3. Schochenhof (Schochen Farm) is a part of the Upper Swabian Ottobeuren that is a municipality in Bavaria, located 11 km southeast of Memmingen. It is famous for Ottobeuren Abbey, situated next to the Basilica.
4. Schochenbach (Schochen Creek) is the local name for a 2 km long tributary valley in Katzensteig and belongs to the town of Furtwangen in the Black Forest region of south western Germany. The small valley extends from northwest to southeast. The valley floor is 880-960 m above sea level.
5. Schochenwinkel (Schochen Corner) - is a field place within Bahlingen, not far from the Schochenbach, closer to France.
To that list you may add a dozen of Schochen field names on the Swiss coast of the Constance Lake and several street names, like Schochenweg (Schochen way) in Landshut (Bavaria), Schochengasse, Schochenstrasse, Schochenhaus, etc. However, you'll see only two distinctive clusters where the "schochen"-based place-names are to be found: near Alsace in Baden (Nr. 4 and 5) or Upper Swabia (Nr. 1-3). As you can see, we are squeezed between the Badish and Swabish regions again...
If Schochen part is to be rooted in place-names, let's map all geonames (geographical names), which contain "schochen" or "schachen" in the German-speaking countries or in the former parts of the Germany. I did it easily by means of Google Maps highlighting the "schochen"-based names by red and "schachen"-based names by blue. What did I get?
Let's have a look:
A considerable majority of dots (around 25) are to be found in the Southern Germany (plus one in Hesse) except 7 places in the Northern Switzerland and 6 places in the Western Austria. So, it demonstrates a sort of continuum in space.
After studying this map, I drew the following conclusions:
1. There are more "schAchen"- than "schOchen"-based place-names;
2. In some general features, this map corresponds to the map of today's schO/Achenmaier distribution from http://schochenmaiers.blogspot.de/2014_06_01_archive.html
3. The two highest concentrations of "schachen" (blue!) in the Southern Bavaria, close to the Swiss border, may explain why lots of Schachenmayrs are living there. The more red German South West gives us to think of the presence of some Schochenmaiers at those regions. By thinking so, we may conclude that some of "schAchenmayrs" could be of toponymic origin. But, the highest concentration of the schAchenmayrs is to be overlapped with "schOchen" placenames in the South Swabia!!! How can it be?
We must be very careful with our results. Accidentally, I stumbled upon a report from the archives which told that some places in Upper Swabia (Southern Germany, in the middle!!!) had been renamed in 1526 near Ravensburg:
It's very interesting to get to know that "Schachen" was replaced by "Schochen" ! What does it mean? Is it a dialect change? It's in the 16ing century... If our family name hadn't been formed yet at that time, then the schOchenmaiers could be a separate family. And if our family had already existed, then there is a possibility that we are remote relatives...
4. If the toponymic theory is right, then the Schochenmaiers originate from the Upper Swabia (near Switzerland and Austria) or South Baden (near France) during the 16th-17th century century (f.ex. Leopold Schochenmeyer in 1630s around Freiburg!), but then from the beginning of the 18th century they removed and in the course of the 19th century multiplied themselves in the Lower Swabia or North Baden (Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Heilbronn, etc.).
Well, it's more complicated than I thought, but that's why it's getting much more interesting)))
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