Zoll

What an odd last name, Where does it come from?

Bavaria, one of the oldest and most expansive of the German states, is the esteemed birthplace of the prominent Zoll family. After the 12th century, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and names that were derived from occupations were particularly common in this region. The family name Zoll is an occupational surname for toll-taker or tax gatherer. The Zoll family became landed aristocrats and they resided in an elegant feudal manor on a vast estate in Bavaria.

In the medieval period, very few people were literate and scribes often recorded names as they sounded rather than according to uniform spelling rules. As a result of the multitude of local dialects in Germany, it was entirely possible that a name would even change between father and son. Additionally, the German language was divided into the linguistically distinct dialects of High and Low German. High German has become the standard modem German language, whereas Low German is linguistically closer to Dutch. Many German surnames may be recognized as belonging to a particular region by their suffixes. It was also common in Germany to add phrases to a name, in order to express something about a person's place of origin, religious background, or character. Thus, German surnames are distinguished by scores of regional spelling variations. Some of the spellings found were Zoller, Zolner, Zollner, Zoller, Zoll, Zoellner, Zoeller and Zollner.

The development of surnames in Germany occurred much later than in Italy, Britain, or France. During the Middle Ages, the practice of adopting hereditary surnames began in southern areas and gradually spread northward. The first hereditary surnames in German-speaking regions were found in the second half of the 12th century when the nobility began to call themselves after their ancestral seats. Among the citizens, surnames were not adopted until the 14th century and did not become stabilized, universal, or fixed in form from one generation to another until the 18th century, when Emperor Joseph 11 decreed that all people throughout the Empire were to assume surnames. The first records of the surname Zoll were found in the town Eger on the border between Bavaria and Bohemia. Although the name Zoll originated in Bavaria, it branched into many houses and became located in Amberg in Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland during the Middle Ages. The earliest records of the name date back to the 14th century, when Hartman der Zoller resided in Ernmerdingen and Johann Vryenstat der czoellner lived in Liegnitz, Silesia. In the late Middle Ages, the status and financial holdings of the Zoll family was increased by marrying with distinguished families such as the Klick and Taufkirchen-Engelburg families. They were later raised to the ranks of the nobility as barons in 1671, and a Saxon branch of the family was ennobled when Gottlieb Zoellner, an officer, was honored in 1822.

The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian farmers, the chance to own one's own land proved to be a major incentive. The process of the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered around Ontario and the Prairie provinces.

As cited by Family Heritage Deluxe