14 Sep The Rosentreter Family Tree
The Rosentreter Family Tree
The earliest documented spellings of the name are ‘Rosentreter & Rosentreder’ from Low German/Low Saxon (Plattdeutsch), the most probable family dialects spoken in the 11th-15th centuries where ‘trede’ is dialect for ‘treten’ which can mean to step (on), to walk (on), or to kick, so the literal translation would be “Tread’s or Walk’s on Roses”. This would appear to have a royal connection. To tread or walk on roses (or flowers) was generally reserved for the nobility or “hero’s” of that time. The name may have been granted by royalty for some service or deed which was also not uncommon.
Other early spellings of the name no longer found in current use are: ‘Rosentrede, Rosentrith, Rosentret & Rosentredere’. Variations of the name appear to be phonetically-based in general, and when researching, it is very common for different spellings to be used for the same person or family group.
The most common variants found to date are ‘Rosentreter, Rosenträger, Rosentrater, Rosentrætter & Rosentreder’. (Although we only know of one living male with the name Rosentreder, and he only has daughters, so this name may die out this century.)