The History, People and Places of the Denner Name
A reference archive for one surname: its origins in the forests of Württemberg, the instrument makers of Nuremberg, the vineyards of California, and the families who carried the name across four continents.
An archive in four volumes
Everything on this site is organized under four headings. Choose a volume to begin, or follow the thread from the people to the places they built.
- I.
Denner People
The inventor of the clarinet, a court portraitist, a French New Wave actor, a Bosch chief executive, poets, scientists and musicians.
Meet 19 Notable Denners - II.
Denner Places
A Paso Robles winery, Switzerland's third-largest grocer, a London cashmere house and a Sonoma ranch farmed since 1890.
See Denner Vineyards, Market and More - III.
Denner History
What the name means, where it was first recorded, the settlers who carried it to Maryland in 1673, and how to trace your own line.
Read the Denner Name History - IV.
Denner Websites
Official sites for the people, companies and ensembles that carry the name, gathered in one directory.
Browse Denner Websites
Why one man built a website about one last name
Ever since I was a boy growing up in Hartford, Connecticut, I felt the desire to trace the origins of my last name. In the 1970s that was an impossible task: there was no internet, and the local library was not much help. Today there are many paths to the Denner family story, and genealogy sites like Ancestry.com connect us to the regions, records and living relatives where that story began.
I wanted to create something online dedicated entirely to the Denner name.
This site is the result: a growing reference for anyone interested in the people and places throughout history that share the name. My hope is to build something worthy of it.
This archive grows because people write in
Nearly every entry on this site began as a letter: a descendant with a family Bible, a musician who plays a Denner recorder, a reader who spotted a name on a wine label. If you know a person, a place or a story that belongs here, or if you have found an error, I would like to hear from you.