Niehues is a German toponymic surname, i.e. it has its source in the type of residence the family lived in.
The name Niehues etymologically comes from West Low German (here: Westphalian) dialects, being a compound word meaning "new house" (the High German variant of the name is Neuhaus).
The pronunciation of the name (pronounced as /de/) does not entirely follow High German pronunciation rules. The second vowel sound is written like the alternative High German spelling of an umlaut-ü sound (pronounced as /de/), but it is pronounced like a normal u sound (pronounced as /de/, as in English pool).
Due to the non-standard German origin of the name, it is often misspelled or mispronounced even by Germans, if they are unfamiliar with the dialect.
In today's Germany, the name Niehues can be found mostly in the regions where the Westphalian dialect is or was spoken, predominantly in the adjacent cities and districts Münster, Coesfeld, Steinfurt, Recklinghausen, Borken and Unna in the northwest of Germany close to the border of the Netherlands.
Outside of Germany, families named Niehues settled especially in the United States (here predominantly in Kansas, also in Texas, California, Louisiana and Ohio) and in Brazil.
As of 2014, 60.8% of all known bearers of the surname Niehues were residents of Germany (frequency 1:19,098), 31.7% of Brazil (1:93,342) and 5.8% of the United States (1:903,128).
In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:19,098) in the following states:
In Brazil, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:93,342) in the following states:[1]
In Germany, some place names are derived from farms bearing the (sometimes former) owner's name, for example Niehues near Nottuln. Also streets have been named after people named Niehues in Germany (e.g. Propst-Niehues-Straße in Marl, Niehuesstraße in Everswinkel), the Netherlands (e.g. Abraham Niehuesstraat in Hoogeveen) and Brazil (e.g. Rua João Teodoro Niehues in Braço do Norte), and Rua Antonio Niehues in .