What does "sive" mean in a German name?

Question

My 7th great granduncle's last name is

Wehlburg sive Meyer zu Bergfeld

What does "sive" mean?

Thanks for your help...

Bonnie Hiller Fullerton

Comments

Hi Bonnie. It means "or", in Latin.

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Thanks, Jim!  Much appreciated.

Bonnie

Answer 1

If this was in Northern Germany, it would imply that Wehlburg was the male's last name at birth, while Meyer zu Bergfeld was the new last name that the person acquired by marrying the female heir of the farm and taking over the farmstead (the name of the farmstead had to be kept constant). This is all pre-1806 but sometimes still was custom to occur in the late 1800's or early 1900's.

Comments

The family is indeed from northern Germany, a small town called Wehdel east of Bremerhaven.  I will add the information you provided to the profile of my ancestor.  Thank you so much.

Bonnie Hiller Fullerton

Answer 2

Good morning Bonnie, following on from Jim Richardson’s answer, the word Meyer in the surname translates from middle and high German into English as a manager of a country estate For a Lord. Which comes from the Latin description “Maior Domus” meaning head of household, this is the same as being a free farmer and not a serf (Servant / Slave). An English word with similar meaning is Steward which is linked to the Stewart / Stuart surnames. So your relative would have been managing land for the Bergfeldt family. There’s a Bavarian town North of Munich in Germany called Bergfeld thus it’s possible that your Ancestors lived in this area. Hope this helps.

Comments

Thank you for this info, John.  I have at least 3 ancestors who had this occupation.  They were all in northern Germany in a small town called Wehdel.

Bonnie Hiller Fullerton