Most surnames have their derrivation from one of four sources:
  1. A name relating to the place of origin of the family
  2. A characteristic of the founder of the family
  3. The given name of the founder of the family
  4. The profession of the founder of the family
The surname of Stüssi, as far as I can tell, appears to be the result of none of these derrivations. Furthermore, I can find no German word which has the same first four letters in its spelling (with or without the umlaut). If there is a root word, the vowel has changed, making it almost impossible to find without a linguistic study of the Swiss-German dialect.

Felix Paul Stüssi of Ennetbühls (in 2006) has a theory where there may be an origin of the type "a characteristic of the founder:"  He notes that there is a german verb, stossen - "to push," and as the family coat of arms (below) indicates two horns, and in the fall season, the chamois and ibex fight by pushing each other with their horns, there is some sort of connection.  Whether this means that the founding Stüssi ancestor was also stubborn in nature is pure speculation as no historical record survives. 
Picture of Coat of Arms on Ring
The Stussi Coat of Arms from a wedding ring.
Die Stüssiwappen auf einem Trauring.

Although somewhere several of us have a color photographic plate of the coats of arms, we all seem to have misplaced our copies.  The only view we can offer at this time is this engraving of the arms on a gold ring of a family member, made from a copy of one of the plates.


Picture of Coat of Arms on a Plate
The Stussi Coat of Arms on a plate.
Die Stüssiwappen auf einer Schüßel.

Courtesy of one of the other branches, here is a picture of that branch's coat-of-arms on a dinner plate.


Four Coats-of-arms from the watch tower of Niederurnen, Glarus, Switzerland
Pictured here are the coats of arms of four of the families that have historically inhabited the village of Niederurnen, as painted on the interior walls of the town's watch tower (Schlössli).  Apparently, only these four were captured on film. The original picture was taken by Jan Stussy (Stüssi von Niederurnen) during his visit to the village in 1963.

Below are close-up enlargements of each:
Die Schlittlerwappen von Niederurnen Die Oswaldwappen von Niederurnen
Die Stüssiwappen von Niederurnen Die Elmerwappen von Niederurnen

These pictures have been imaged from a two inch square Translucent photographic slide backlit by a fluroscent tube and imaged by a CCD video camera. Someday, when I have the correct equipment to properly reimage the original picture, I shall do so.
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This page last revised on 2007/06/15.
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