Follow
The earliest discovery made by Dr. Donald O. Wissinger relating to the origin of the Wissinger surname spelling was found on old Roman maps of about the year A.D. 350; an area along the Danube river in southern Europe designated at the "ing" or "ingen" area. This area along the Danube river was later termed Swabia or Suabia (German-Schwaben; Latin - Suevia), a medieval duchy in southern Europe. It took its name from the Suevi, by which the Germanic people of the Alamanni who occupied southern Europe in the 3rd century were also known. The total region occupied later by the Alamanni embraced western Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Alsace and a great part of Switzerland. In the 3rd century the Alamanni was a confederacy of Germanic tribes inhabiting the region (Alamania) between the Main and the Danube Rivers. The so-called Germanic tribes originated as the western movement of people occurred from the east. Their earliest forefathers probably descended from Japheth, the youngest of the three sons of Noah. Japheths's sons are named in Genesis 10:2; and their names prove to be those of Indo-European peoples inhabiting western Asia and parts of Europe in early Old Testament times (2349 B.C. - 2218 B.C.). One of Japheth's sons was Gomer. The descendants of Gomer's eldest son, Ashkenaz (Ashchenaz), seem to have been the Scythians, who, according to Jeremiah 51:27, lived in the vicinity of Mount Ararat (today's eastern Turkey). The tribes may have pushed on into Europe. In later Jewish literature the name Ashkenaz denotes the Germanic people. Also, according to history, another of the sons of Japheth was Tiras, whose descendents very likely became the Thracians of southern Europe. Almost every German historian makes German history begin with inroad into the Roman orbit of the Cimbri and Teutones (112 B.C.). The history of any Germanic tribe which at one time or another settled within the boundaries of present Germany is considered part and parcel of German history, without further questioning. Dr. Steinberg in his Short History of Germany writes, "The outstanding fact in the history of Germany is the non-existence, up to 1871, of any political unit called Germany."
From University Professor, Dr. A. Helbok, of Innsbruck, Austria, by historical settlement studies, writes, "One has the spreading of the place name of "ing(en)" to many places in connection with the establishment of Bavaria." Dr. Helbok concluded that "ing(en)" people first settled in what is now Austria, and gradually extended west. Many "ing(en)" villages were established.
From studies made at Bavaria the conclusion has been made that for Wisingen, so named, means descendant of Wiso; and that the prefixes Wis, Wiz, and Weise, are of the same origin. Wiso was probably the name of a tribal chief. Even today there exists near Augsburg the towns of Dillingen and Lauingen; near Stuttgart there is Esslingen, Geislingen and several additional "ingen" towns between Stuttgart and Ulm. North of Munich is Freising. In Switzerland near Basil is Sackingen. We also find the information "almost 30 kilometers west southwest from Weisingen, that for centuries lay next to Augsburg, lies an all Protestant area, a second Weisingen." From the Metropolitan Archives, Munich, we find recorded a document, a Will, of 28 Jan 1313 from the small Cloister of Dillengen (an extract of the original) which begins, "I Geerlach von Wissingen - - - -," and in the content of the same document reference is made to the house of Wysingen. In the Augsburg tax books in the year 1408, we find Frau Johann Wizzinger entered; her family "von Wissingen" had wandered away; but appear again with the recording of gold-smith, Wolfgang Wissinger, in Augsburg. However, at Augsburg, a line of Wolfgang Wisinger gold-smiths (1347 - 1565) is attested to by their grave markers.
It seems quite conclusive that the surname origins of the ancestors living in the "ing(en)" areas first named their villages "ingen" with a chosen prefix, a given name or other choice. These villages, for our family genealogical purposes, became the origin for our surname Wissinger with variations in surname spelling. Family members from the respective villages were identified by given names and as being from (von) a certain village; i.e., Gerlock von Wisingen. Later the German "von" meaning "from" was dropped, in some families, and the surname ending became "er" for "en." There exists a marked variation in surname spelling over the centuries, and continues today within the same family lines. In old documents and records in the "ingen" areas one finds the surnames Weisingen, Wisingen, Wysingen, Wizzingen, Wissingen, Weissinger, Weisiger, Weisinger, Weising, Wising, and others. When one considers the historical custom of the early period, that the ability to read and write was frowned upon as beneath the dignity of the upper classes; while few of the lower classes had an opportunity to learn to read and write, it seems quite probable that phonetics came into play, surnames were spelled and written as they sounded to the one who had to write the surname on some document. Not so long ago many of our ancestors signed legal documents with their mark an "X" which was duly witnessed.
Reference: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bobwiss/history.htm