# Schwarzenegger/ German Translation Request **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300 "2009-03-13T04:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/1 "2009-03-13T04:09:05Z")
General Schwarzkopf is General Blackhead Governor Schwarzenegger is Governor Black… I’d like a translation for “negger” which I can’t get on-line because it may be archaic German. Can any one help? I’d like to get my own compelling pidgin translation out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/2 "2009-03-13T04:10:14Z")
I don’t speak German, and can’t vouch that he’s right, but Arnold himself has always said the name translates as “the black plowman.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/3 "2009-03-13T04:18:47Z")
You’re parsing it wrong. Try Schwarzen + Egger. Eggen is to till or harrow. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/4 "2009-03-13T04:23:11Z")
_Schwartz_ is ‘black’. I’ve heard that an Egg is a mountain ridge. So _Schwartzenegg_ would be ‘black mountain ridge’. A _Schwartzenegger_ would be a person from Schwartzenegg, much as a person from Berlin is a Berliner. _Egge_ is, I think, the name of some sort of a garden implement. So _Schwartzenegger_ might be a dark (haired, or perhaps complected) person who uses the implement. But I think ‘a person from Schwartzenegg’ makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/5 "2009-03-13T06:09:10Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I don’t speak German, and can’t vouch that he’s right, but Arnold himself has always said the name translates as “the black plowman.” I have heard him say that too. I’m going to assume he is right since it is his name and he can apparently speak German. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/6 "2009-03-13T06:17:27Z")
There is a Swiss town named Schwarzenegg, so originally the name could be derived from there. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/7 "2009-03-13T06:26:25Z")
Schwarzen is definitely ‘black’ and egger almost certainly derives from ‘egge’ meaning harrow or a tool like a plow. However, my understanding, which is confirmed after consulting with a resident German speaker here, the name actually means a “plower of black fields” as opposed to a “black plower of fields” . ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/8 "2009-03-13T08:05:02Z")
Am I not too far off in guessing that both _Egg_ ‘mountain ridge’ and _Egge_ ‘harrow/plow’ are cognates of English “edge”? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/9 "2009-03-13T08:25:59Z")
My best guess is that it means “man from Schwarzenegg” - there is one Schwarzenegg in Switzerland but a number of municipialities called Egg in the German-speaking areas, so Schwarzenegg looks like a likly toponym. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/10 "2009-03-13T11:24:43Z")
If it meant black ploughman, wouldn’t it be Schwarzegger? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/11 "2009-03-13T13:44:21Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > If it meant black ploughman, wouldn’t it be Schwarzegger? “Schwarzen” also means black,(blacks or black person) according to this [dictionary](http://www.ego4u.com/en/dictionary) “Schwarzen” also means “to pass the buck” and “to leave holding the baby” which I suspect is more modern usage. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/12 "2009-03-13T14:02:54Z")
Yeah, but in the accusative/dative/genitive, or plural, none of which I would have thought would apply here. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/13 "2009-03-13T14:14:16Z")
Oh wait, you mean the noun Schwarzen. OK. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Simple\_Mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Mind)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/14 "2009-03-15T12:15:26Z")
Schwarzenegger, Schwarz/en = Black, Egger = Harrower, Egge = Harrow, Pflug = Plow. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schwarzenegger-german-translation-request/489300/15 "2009-03-15T19:51:30Z")
The problem is that his name today has gone through different variations and phonic changes, possibly even spelling changes\*, so only somebody who delves into the family history of this family of the Schwarzenegger can talk with any certainty whether it’s a man from a town called Schwarzenegg (related to a black mountain ridge) or a black(haired) plower/plower of black fields. Unless Arnold has done family history research himself, his own explanation is no more valid than the above guessings. - One example: a current name would be translated as related to hammer, but is really a phonetic corruption, related to the family moving twice, of heaven. Another common surname can relate to a balance or a waggoner (waggon-maker) or somebody who makes wheels, or something else.