Family name origins & meanings
- South German and Swiss German : occupational or status name from Amtmann ‘official’, dialect Ammann (Middle High German ambet man, literally ‘retinue man’, ‘retainer’). This came to denote various kinds of administrator, including a tax farmer.
- Jakob Ammann (c. 1644–1730), for whom the Amish people are named, was a 17th-century, strict Alsatian-Swiss religious reformer of the Anabaptist Mennonite Church. His followers began emigrating to North America in the 1720s, settling chiefly in PA, where they are still present in large numbers, having also spread to OH, Ontario, and elsewhere. They are noted for their conservative life style (generally including avoidance of modern inventions such as automobiles and telephones), distinctive dress, and close-knit community.