Anstine Name

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Anstine is an anglicized spelling of the German family name Anstein, which is classified as being of habitation origin. When family names are defined as "habitation" in origin they refer us to the residence or home of the progenitor or founder of the family. The name may indicate that the original bearer displayed a sign or engraving over the door of his residence or it may tell us that this person’s residence was located in a particular town or village or indeed that it was located by some distinguishing geographical or topographical feature.

 

The family name Anstein originated as a contraction of the German phrase "an den Stein", meaning "on the stone". Thus, the initial bearer of the surname Anstein would have been one who dwelled on stony ground or perhaps near an outcropping of rock. By the same synonym for "Burg" (castle, fortress) and it is possible that the family name Anstein would have referred, in some cases, to a person who resided within a fortified structure. Variants of the surname Anstein include Amstein and Stein.

 

One of the earliest references to this name is a record of one Johann Michael Anstein, son of Nicolaus Anstein and Anna Barbara Bürg, who was baptized on 2 September 1663 in Neuffen, Württemberg. There is also mention of the wedding of Waldburga Anstein and Mattäus Fallschär, which took place on 26 October 1697 in Grötzingen, Württemberg. However, research is of course ongoing and this name may have been documented even earlier than the date indicated above. This name was introduced to North America as early as 1751, in which year we find a record of the emigration of Hans Georg Anstein, who arrived in Philadelphia.