It’s Germanic, as are most names ending with -ard or -hard (Richard, Bernhard, Eberhard). It appears in old English as Wilheard.
Wilms can also be a form of Willems, which is Dutch. I don’t know if it occurs in Allemanic-speaking regions such as Baden. It might. I’ve been there, but only once or twice long ago. But I know the Low Countries well and have seen the surname used both in the Netherlands and Flanders.
Then where the fuck did my family get it from? Cause we almost exclusively stick to Celtic, Roman, and Christian names IE Lucius, Jess, Gordon, Robert, Michael, Scott, and Antony so why did we pick up a random German name to start throwing at random kids every couple of generations. Like don’t get me wrong it’s faded in the last couple generations but I can’t imagine my 2x grandpa Jess.
The Willms (how it was spelt before immigration) were surprisingly well traveled and I know that the mother of my ancestor who came over was from Schleswig-Holstein so it’s possible the name moved around.
It’s Germanic, as are most names ending with -ard or -hard (Richard, Bernhard, Eberhard). It appears in old English as Wilheard.
Wilms can also be a form of Willems, which is Dutch. I don’t know if it occurs in Allemanic-speaking regions such as Baden. It might. I’ve been there, but only once or twice long ago. But I know the Low Countries well and have seen the surname used both in the Netherlands and Flanders.
Then where the fuck did my family get it from? Cause we almost exclusively stick to Celtic, Roman, and Christian names IE Lucius, Jess, Gordon, Robert, Michael, Scott, and Antony so why did we pick up a random German name to start throwing at random kids every couple of generations. Like don’t get me wrong it’s faded in the last couple generations but I can’t imagine my 2x grandpa Jess.
The Willms (how it was spelt before immigration) were surprisingly well traveled and I know that the mother of my ancestor who came over was from Schleswig-Holstein so it’s possible the name moved around.