Dürst/Durst – Surname Saturday

Darling-Huber-Trümpi-Dürst Line
By Don Taylor

Name Origin[i]

Family Search and Ancestry indicate Dürst is a nickname from Middle High German turst ‘boldness’ or durst ‘thirst and that Durst is just a variation of the name.

Geographical

In World: Forebears indicates that about 1,266 people bear the surname Dürst and another 13,000 have the Durst surname. For Dürst, most people with the surname live in Switzerland, with Germany being a distant second. For Durst, most people live in the United States, with Germany having the second greatest incidence of the name. My wife’s Dürst ancestors all lived in Switzerland; none came to America.

Direct Dürst Ancestors

• 4^th Great-grandmother: #121 – Anna Maria Dürst (1770-1858)
• 5^th Great-grandfather: #242 – Joachim Dürst (1727-1785)
• 6^th Great-grandfather: #484 – Joachim Dürst (1697-1783)
• 7^th Great-grandfather: #968 – Joachim Dürst (1665-1747)
• 8^th Great-grandfather: #1936 – Thomas Dürst (1638-1710)

My Dürst’s History

There is much information about the Dürst family in Glarus, the Dürst family crest, and other details on the Glarus Family Tree website.

My Earliest known Dürst ancestor, Thomas Dürst, lived in Diesbach, a village in the Canton of Glarus and is now part of the municipality of Glarus Süd. He was born in 1638, died in 1710, and appears to have lived his entire life in Diesbach.

1840.

            In 1840, only my most recent Dürst ancestor was living. It was 4^th great-grandmother Anna Maria Dürst. She was married to Bernhard Trümpi and lived in the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. She and Bernhard probably lived in Ennetbühls, a hamlet in Ennenda (later incorporated into the municipality of Glarus). They had four adult children, Fridolin, Rosin, Joachim, and Bernhart Trümpi. I have not researched her or Bernhard yet.

Today (2014)

According to Forebears, no known Dürst families live in the Canton of Glarus. Most Dürst families living in Switzerland live in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft.

Because English doesn’t use an umlaut, no Dürst families exist in the United States. However, according to Forebears, there are approximately 8,171 individuals with the Durst surname in the United States.

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My Direct Durst Descendants

I have 165 known descendants of Thomas Durst (1639-1710) in my tree; 40 Trümpi/Trumpi, 11 Fuchs, 11 Howell, and 10 Karch descendants. I have previously written about three of my Thomas Dürst descendants.

• Grandmother: Florence Wilma Huber Darling (1908-1934)
• Great-grandmother: Bertha Barbara Trümpi Huber (1884-1968)
• 2^nd Great-grandfather: Bernhead Trumpi (1844-1913)

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Sources

• Ancestry Surname Page: https://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts
• Family Search Surname page.
• Forebears Page: https://forebears.io/
• Ancestry – Don Taylor’s Howell-Darling-2022 tree on Ancestry, accessed 18 Jan 2023.