Fidrmuc is a Czech name with German origins. The pronunciation is Fiedermuck or Fiedermutz. The former is what I am now typically use, the latter is closer to the original Czech pronunciation. The name probably takes its origin in German Federmuetze (Feder = feather, Muetze = hat or cap, i.e. hat with feathers). Supposedly, the term Federmuetze was used in the Middleages to denote wandering poets and singers, who wore such hats.

Fidrmuc is not a very common name, except for the Central Bohemian village of Cineves where approximately one half of the resident population bears it. This village is also where my family has its origins, going at least as far back as 1766. The first written record of this name dates back to 1596, although it is not clear whether this person was one of my ancestors.

At present, most of the bearers of this name live in Central Bohemia and Prague, with some also in Southern Moravia and other regions in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. The name is also found in Slovenia, Croatia (spelled either as Fidrmuc or Fidermuc), Austria, Germany, the UK and the US. A similar name, Fiedermutz, can be found in Germany and Austria where it apparently arrived with German refugees from the Banat region (present-day Romania and Serbia) after the World War II. I was unable to establish whether the Fidrmuc/Fidermuc branch in Slovenia and Croatia and the Fiedermutz branch in Banat and later Germany and Austria have any connection to Bohemia.

The above information is based on genealogical research by Oldrich Fidrmuc as well as information that I received from Andrea Fiedermutz, Reno Fiedermutz, Zrinka Katarina Fidermuc and Annemarie Fiedermutz. If you have any information about the origins and/or world-wide distribution of this name name, please contact me: jan -at- fidrmuc.net.

Last updated: 9 January 2006.