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Name Variants: Rosenträger, Rosentrater, Rosentrætter, Rosentreder, Rosentreader, Rosentrader, Rosentraeger, Rozentreter, Rosentreater, Rosendräger, Rosendraeger, Rosentritt, Różański, Rozentretr, Rosentrede, Rosentrith, Rosentredere, Розентретер
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, 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.)
NOTE: We are unsure of the validity and authenticity of the crest shown here. More research is required.
About the Rosentreter origins
There is a reference to an Ecbert Rosentrede in 1262 in Hamburg, Germany, which would have been the time of the Crusade’s, however we can find no more information.
In Hans Bahlow’s book, (Deutsches Namenlexikon), he mentions a gardener named Godeke Rosentredere in 1290 living in Stralsund (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany). In the Duden book, (Family Names, Origin and Meaning, edited by Rosa and Volker Kohlheim), they mention a Heincze Rosentrith at Neumarkt in Silesia about 1305, a Petir Rosentret at Liegnitz in Silesia from about 1372, and Diderike Rosentredere at Hildesheim from 1412.
The earliest documented use of the name ‘Rosentreter’ found to date is Canon Dietrich Rosentreter born about 1386 in Alfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany and died in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt in 1448.
In the 1500’s and 1600’s, other documented family members are a Joachim Rosentreder (b. before 1540) and living in Kamień Pomorski, Kamień County, Poland with his daughter in 1560. This town is on the Baltic Sea and at that time was part of West Prussia. It is about 60 km’s (37 miles) North of the regional capital of Szczecin (Stettin) and about 25 km’s (15 miles) East of the current-day German border.
Other regions where we find families in the 1500’s and 1600’s include Słupsk, Słupsk County, Poland, Lower Saxony in Germany (Bremen, Sandstedt & Bramstedt), Aschersleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, the Chojnice & Konitz regions (Koschneiderei) in Poland (Abrau, Lichnau, etc.) and Ruppin (Neuruppin), Brandenburg in Germany.
The biggest populations of Rosentreter’s alive today are in the USA, Germany, Canada, Poland and Australia, with other smaller branches of the family in Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, England (UK), Argentina, Russia, Ukraine & Chile.