Surname: Havenith

The most recent generations of my family are from Limburg in the Netherlands, so that is where I started with attempting to find the origin of the surname. During the same time, I scoured the Internet for the possible meaning of HAVENITH and came across a few variants along the way (discussed here). 

This post documents what I've found so far.

Havenith migration path
from Raeren to Heerlen

Origin
During the past few years, I've followed the BMD and church records of my direct HAVENITH ancestors and found a migration path that leads from Heerlen in the present day, back through Simpelveld, Wittem to Bocholtz; which was their first home in the Netherlands. They arrived in Bocholtz from Hauset, Liège, but were in Eynatten for two generations prior to that and in Raeren for three generations. This is where I've found my earliest record, a marriage record from 1696.



While the earliest example of this surname in my family tree is in Belgium, Germain and Herbillon suggest that HAVENITH is of German or Austrian origin ("d'origine allemande ou autri­chienne")[1] in their dictionary entitled Dictionnaire des noms de famille en Wallonie et à Bruxelles. This makes sense because Raeren  used to be part of Germany, and Raeren is still a German speaking community.

Distribution
Finding that my surname is common in an area where my ancestors lived and when they lived is exciting. However, it's more exciting to find that it is still common there now.
Public Profiler Worldnames has Raeren, Liège as the top city for the surname HAVENITH and further to this, HAVENITH is the 10th most common surname there[2]. While Belgium takes the top spot for frequency per million (FPM) of HAVENITH at 16.91, the province of Limburg in the Netherlands has a reported 50 FPM [3].

The surname HAVENITH in Europe.
Image courtesy of gbnames.publicprofiler.org

Liège, Belgium has a high distribution of HAVENITHs.
Image courtesy of gbnames.publicprofiler.org

Meaning
The most obvious meaning of the surname is that it means 'have nothing' or 'have not'. So, instead of being the 'Haves' we would be the 'Have nots'; the poor people of the age! But can it really be that simple? This would make this a nickname that ended up being a surname - not the most common type of surname and not necessarily a surname that descendents would like to carry on. So let's look at the published evidence.

Further research uncovered a dictionary with an entry on HAVENITH. In Family names of Belgium and North France, Frans Debrabandere documents this idea by saying the surname is for those who have nothing: "voor wie niets heeft.D. Habenicht."[4].

Indeed the surname 'HABENICHT' still exists with a stronghold in Germany with a frequency per million of 22, with Austria coming in second with an FPM of 8[5]. So, this could be the origin of HAVENITH and its variants.

One thing we need to consider if this surname may have been embarrassing to those with the name. In my research, in Liège there are plenty of people with variants of HAVENITH. Would they all have been happy to be known as the 'Have nots' a clear indicator that they either have nothing or came from nothing? Remember, this is in the 1600-1700s, well before surnames and registration were enforced. Surely the name would have died out or children given the mother's surname?

Another idea from a comment in a Facebook group was that a priest asked for a surname during a ceremony, such as a wedding or baptism and the ancestor replied simply that they didn't have one. Leading the priest to write that he have not a surname. I quickly disregarded this upon reading that it was common for priests and officials to enter 'zonder naam' meaning 'without name' for the surname in this situation. Additionally, if it meant no surname, it probably would have died out due to people choosing an actual surname.

We also need to consider the language spoken during the formation of the surname. It could well be that Middle Dutch or an older German was still spoken when and where the surname was initially chosen or given - and therefore could have meant something entirely different. Different variants of the surname do provide different possible translations when run through Google Translate for Dutch, Belgium, and Latin. For instance, the earliest variant I'm currently aware of is HAVENIT, which becomes 'Willing' in Latin.
However, if we're looking at HABENICHT as an origin, then this is said to be a Middle High German compound name created by joining habe ‘have’ + niht ‘nothing’[6]. Middle High German was in use (depending on who you read) until around 1500s in South Germany and parts of Austria[7], which links back to the Germain and Herbillon name dictionary.

A further example of the pauper nickname came from a genealogist on Facebook who messaged me a definition of the surname from a book investigating the surnames of Limburg which advises that there are many German names and nicknames. The authors, Crott and Hoen (1995) give the example 'Havenith, ein Habenichts = a pauper'[8] (translated from original text).

What really brings all of this together is Hans Bahlow in his Dictionary of German Names. He discusses the meaning of HABENICHT and states that HABNIT is Upper German and HAVENITH is Lower German. All of which mean the person is a 'have-not'.[9]

I have been, so far, unable to find a place or land feature (river, hill, etc) that would provide an origin and therefore a different definition for the surname.

The earliest HAVENITH (1760), so far, in my family tree.

Spelling Variation
I have discussed the variations of the spelling within my own ancestry in a previous post, available here. However, in summary, the following spelling variants have so far been found:

HAVENIT

HABENIT

HAVENIET

HAVENIETH

HAVENITH

I have found other variants, but not in connection with my family tree, as yet.

The spelling of the surname may have changed for the following reasons[10]:

• Due to developments in language,
• Phonetic spelling being used by church officials, who may have interpreted the sound of the surname in differently: possibly due to dialects or possibly due to the illiteracy of my ancestors.
• The increase in literacy as time went on, which may have eventually led to standard / stable spellings, 
• Possibly an attempt to remove the negative connotations of being labelled as poor or to translate the name to Dutch.

Conclusion
Unfortunately, I am unable to get to Raeren to look for earlier HAVENITHs and perhaps find the time and place when HAVENITH was first used, however it is clear that variants were in use before the 1700s.

However, at this stage the published research points to Germany as the origin of the surname, with HABENICHT as a primary definition that links back to Upper German and Low German.

Within my ancestry the origin is in Raeren and other villages within Liège.


The definition of the surname means to 'have nothing', this is therefore a 'nickname' that became a surname. It is based on the person/people originally given this name (given as surely nobody would choose it? - a discussion on the Dutch choosing funny names to annoy the French rulers in 1811 is discussed here [10]).


If my surname genuinely means 'Have not' or to 'have nothing', I am happy for the simple reason that the surname has survived because my ancestors survived - and this shows that they had everything they needed. These days it can also be considered a positive thing to have 'come from nothing', perhaps this isn't a new idea, but has just come back around as most things do. I know that my life is filled with love and kindness, even if we're not blessed with the material goods that current society dictates would make me one of the 'haves' - and I'd like to think that this is how my ancestors felt.

I will continue to look into the origins and meaning of HAVENITH, especially looking for place names, land features, and occupations as I realise that nickname surnames can be quite rare (or perhaps this rarity is just in the UK). However, at this point in time, I am happy with the outcome of my research.

If you have any further evidence about the HAVENITH surname, or its variants, please get in touch! Either via the comments or the contact form to the right. I am particularly interested in the definitions in published works.

Sources
1 Belgian surnames: origin and meaning. 2015. Belgian surnames: origin and meaning. [ONLINE] Available at: http://belgian-surnames-origin-meaning.skynetblogs.be/index-42.html. [Accessed 20 June 2015].
2 World Family Names. 2015. World Family Names. [ONLINE] Available at: http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/SearchArea.aspx?area_name=RAEREN%20,%20WALLONIE%20,%20BELGIUM. [Accessed 20 June 2015].
3 World Family Names. 2015. World Family Names. [ONLINE] Available at: http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/Default.aspx?country_code=BE [Accessed 20 June 2015].
4 Belgian surnames: origin and meaning. 2015. Belgian surnames: origin and meaning. [ONLINE] Available at: http://belgian-surnames-origin-meaning.skynetblogs.be/index-40.html. [Accessed 20 June 2015].
5 World Family Names. 2015. World Family Names. [ONLINE] Available at: http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/Default.aspx?country_code=DE
[Accessed 20 June 2015].
6 Habenicht - Oxford Reference. 2015. Habenicht - Oxford Reference. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195081374.001.0001/acref-9780195081374-e-25191?rskey=gAQ6xQ&result=25191. [Accessed 20 June 2015].
7 Middle High German - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Middle High German - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_High_German. [Accessed 20 June 2015].
8 Crott, J and Hoen, J (1995). Familienamen in Limburg. Limburg: Stichting Limburgs Genealogisch Archief,. 143. Thanks goes to Irma Lommen-Salden for sending me scans of the relevant page and the front page.
9 The Genealogical Department of The Church of Latter Day Saints (1977). The Origins of Names and Their Effect on Genealogical Research in The Netherlands. 3rd ed. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Latter Day Saints. p.9.
10 Bahlow, H. (2002). Dictionary of German Names (translated by Edda Gentry. Madison, WI, USA: University of Wisconsin. p181 and p200. Many thanks go to Catherine Davis, who took the time to scan and email me the pages which held the entries.
11 Naamkunde. 2015. Naamkunde. [ONLINE] Available at:  http://www.naamkunde.net/?page_id=162 [Accessed 20 June 2015].