[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Origin of name Duwe?

[Günther Böhm]

Cynthia Howland schrieb:

>May I throw another name in for consideration?   My grandmother's maiden
>name, Duwe. We were told by our parents that it was Duve' and it was a
>French name. When I began researching records I found the spelling was
>always Duwe and information that it was a German name. Does anyone know of
>the history of this name. Is there a French connection? My grandmother
>came to the U.S. from Poland and considered herself German. It may be the
>alternate spelling and French identification were misunderstanding on the
>part of the second generation?
>
Hello Cynthia,
yes, the DUVE surname (without accent aigu!) occurres in France since 
early 17th century - but it is apparently not of French origin! In 
Belgium the name 'DE DUVE' is quite common (even a Nobel Prize winner 
bears it). It is of Flemish or other Lower German origin and means 'the 
deaf' (this time 'de' is not a predicate of nobility but merely the male 
article). Also in Germany the surname DUWE (DUVE, DOUVE, THUVE, TUWE) is 
a Lower German variant of 'der Taube' which also stands for 'the deaf'.

Günther