Der Familienname Nobis im Erzgebirge

Abstract

Given present-day distribution of the German family name Nobis in two main areas, the article examines its original meaning as far as the chiefly rural Erzgebirge region in the South West of Saxony is concerned. The author has his doubts about the widely held opinion that Nobis, derived from remote taverns of the same name (Nobiskrug, Nobishaus), is alleged to designate the ‘devil’, or rather, a person of this kind. Instead, the negating, slightly pejorative argot term nobis/Nobis involving the idea of smallness is taken up to explain this family name.