Surname Saturday: Außem, Aussem

According to Dictionary of German Names (2nd ed.) by Hans Bahlow (Madison, WI: Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, 2002), Außem (or, written without using the eszett, Aussem) is a Lower Rhine name. The definition reads "doc. [documented] Olveshem, from river n. Olve, like Muleshem, Polsehem, Soreshem."

Christoph Stöpel's Geogen surname mapping site shows the distribution of the surname in Germany. Stöpel's data comes from German telephone directories. Both the absolute distribution and the relative distribution (considering population density) are shown. The maps below were created using Geogen 3.0. Geogen 4.0 is the latest version.

Absolute distribution (Außem)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Au%C3%9Fem&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=abs

Absolute distribution (Aussem)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Aussem&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=abs

Relative distribution (Außem)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Au%C3%9Fem&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=rel

Relative distribution (Aussem)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Aussem&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=rel

All four distribution maps show the highest concentration of the surname in Rhein-Erft Kreis.

My known Außem ancestors are:

3rd-great-grandmother: Anna Maria Außem
born 18 October 1815, Kendenich, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
married Wilhelm Esser 1 February 1837, Hürth, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
married Johann Nagel (my 3rd-great-grandfather)  31 August 1838, Hürth, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
died 8 September 1861, Kendenich, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

4th-great-grandfather: Mathias Außem
baptized 9 July 1782, Dirmerzheim, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
married Gertrud Fernings 5 November 1805, Hürth, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
married Theresia Erp (my 4th-great-grandmother; also known as Theresia Erles) 24 April 1811, Hürth, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
died 14 August 1866, Kendenich, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

5th-great-grandfather: Heinrich Außem; married Anna Maria Nonn. They may be the couple who married on 26 February 1767 in Dirmerzheim, Rhein-Erft, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany