Ries

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) : from a Germanic personal name, but mainly a nickname for an exceptionally tall or big man, Middle High German rise, German Riese ‘giant’. In some cases the name may have been used to refer ironically to a particularly short man.
• South German : habitational name from any of several places named Ries.
• German : topographic name from Middle Low German rīs ‘branch’, ‘twig’, ‘brushwood’.
• Altered spelling of German Riess or Reis.