OTTO MILLER

Originally a short form of any of the various Germanic compound personal names containing the element od, ot ‘prosperity, wealth’ (compare the corresponding Old English ēad in names such as Edward and Edwin). St Otto of Bamberg (d. 1139) was a missionary to the Pomeranians. Otto the Great (912–73) is generally regarded as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, and the name has been borne by several members of German and Austrian royal houses. It was recorded occasionally among immigrants to England from the Low Countries in the 14th century, but failed to establish itself. Since the 19th century it has again been used occasionally in the English-speaking world, mostly among immigrants from Germanic countries.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a miller. The standard modern vocabulary word represents the northern Middle English term, an agent derivative of mille ‘mill’, reinforced by Old Norse mylnari (see Milner). In southern, western, and central England Millward (literally, ‘mill keeper’) was the usual term. The American surname has absorbed many cognate surnames from other European languages, for example French Meunier, Dumoulin, Demoulins, and Moulin; German Mueller; Dutch Molenaar; Italian Molinaro; Spanish Molinero; Hungarian Molnár; Slavic Mlinar, etc.