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Rotter

The historical Research Center, Family Name History, states

        Firstly, the surname Rotter is of patronymic origin, derived from the first name of the father of the initial bearer.  In this case, the name indicates "son of Rotter", a variant of either Rotheri or Rothard.  The Root of these personal names is derived from the Old High German word "hrod" meaning "famous, illustrious" and the suffexes "hari, heri" meaning "army" or "hardus" meaning "hard, strong"
        Alternatively, the name is of toponymic origin, derived from the place where the initial bearer once lived or held land. Here the name denotes "one who came from Rott, Roth or Rod" the names of several places in Germany.  These toponyms are all derived from the Old High German verb "roden" meaning "to clear wood" and therefore the name is also of local origin, denoting "one who dwelled in a clearing".   In some instances, the name is of nickname origin, descriptive of some personal or physical characteristic of the original bearer, here derived from the Middle High German word "rot" meaning "red".

Actual research by Gernot Rotter

     South German and Austria some Rotter families, which no doubt say: "We have always been here." And as far as I was able to verify this has, this seems at least to a large clan in the area of Fuerth and another in the area south Schwaben / Allgäu really declared, also in Vienna  a doctor named geschichtsbewusster Rotter assured me, that his Ancestors "for many generations," had a farm in Tyrol, and indeed live there today in the Italian Alps. 

  • Pittarn, Czeckia. (formerly Czechoslovakia) near Polish border
    Hans Rotter was born about 1683 in Pittarn, Austria. • Occupation: Rented Land To Farm? Auszügler In Pittarn. Hans married Anna about 1707 in Pittarn, Austria. Anna was born about 1683 in Pittarn, Austria ?.
    The child from this marriage was:  Friedrich Rotter was born on 6 Feb 1708 in Pittarn, Austria.

  • early Poland (Oberschlessien (Upper Silesia)

  • north Maehrens (Ostsudeten). 

  • Swabian one (Esslingen, Ehingen


 

The Wuerttemberg Emigration Index http://www.rader.org/genealogies/rotter%20from%20Wuerttemberg%201832.html

Rotters in early Poland (Oberschlessien (Upper Silesia) http://www.rader.org/newsletters/vol33.htm

General Register Office Index / St Catherines House Index,
which contains some 520 million entries covering the years 1837 to the present day,

Rotters in St Catherine House index

ENGLAND

The source records in England are very good and in some cases excellent. The government began record keeping in 1837 (known as St. Catherine's House Records for where they were previously stored) and most people complied. Before that time, it is necessary to not only know where your people lived, but where they went to church. Parish or church records are available in most areas back into the 1500's. Quite a few pre 1837 records have been microfilmed by the LDS (Mormon) church and are available to rent (cost of shipping) at Family History Centers. There are still some areas that have not been filmed because the local Minister, etc., would not give permission for filming. Unfortunately, that has been a problem for me as most of the areas I need are not yet on film.

BMD - Births, Marriages, & Deaths:

The index of civil registration for the United Kingdom from 1837 to the present day. This index was formerly called the St. Catherine's House index due to its former location in London. The index is available on microfiche from your local Family History Center, at many major libraries in the UK, and at the Family Records Centre in London among other locations

FRC - The Family Records Centre:

The Family Records Centre at Myddleton Place in London is the 'new St. Catherine's House'. It combines the public search rooms of the ONS' General Register Office (indexes for births, marriages, and deaths back to 1837) formerly at St. Catherine's House with the census and wills rooms of the Public Record Office formerly in Chancery Lane.

The FRC is located within walking distance of two other important family history research repositories - the SoG and the London Metropolitan Archives. See the street map for these institutions' relative location to the FRC and the FRC's location compared to the old St. Catherine's House and Chancery Lane.

You can request unlimited free searches of the St Catherines House Parish Records if you are a member at StCaths.

The Parish Records however only contain a very small portion of all the available records for births & marriages between 1530 & 1837, (some 12 million) where it is very useful tool it does not compare with the General Register Office Index/St Catherines House Index, which contains some 520 million entries covering the years 1837 to the present day, for births marriages and deaths.

 http://www.ukfamilyhistory.co.uk/index.php