Saturday 23 January 2016

What's in a name?

Many researchers become frustrated when looking for records pertaining to their German ancestors. Why were there so many different ways that their names were written? Were they illiterate?

Today with names recorded in telephone directories, electoral rolls and the like, “correct spelling” of names is very important to us. However, historically, this has not always been the case. In previous centuries, especially in Germany, the sound of a name was far more important than its spelling. Consequently, spellings varied over the years and it is not unusual to find the same surname spelled several ways in the old German church registers.

Surnames


With all of this in mind, what might have happened to the name of a German who migrated to Australia? Some German names might be accidentally or deliberately spelled differently in Australia based on the sound of the name. For example, Vogel might become Fogle, or Wahry might become Vahry. In German ‘ie’ is pronounced to rhyme with the English ‘see’ so could easily be replaced by ‘ei’ or ‘ee’ in English. Similarly, the German ‘ei’ is pronounced to rhyme with the English ‘sigh’ so could easily be replaced by ‘ie’ in English.

In earlier days, the sound of a name might be more important than its spelling. Thus one name was spelled Karaś in Polish and Karrasch in German – the sound was the same but the spelling was different.

However many names kept the German spelling at the expense (sometimes over time) of having the sound of the name change.

Some German names contained the umlauted letters ä, ö and ü. The two dots over the letter are the vestige of an e that used to be written over the letter, and the letters may be replaced by ae, oe and ue respectively. Some names containing these letters continued to be written that way, but since non-German speaking officials generally had no knowledge of such letters, the names would usually end up being written without the dots – thus Schäfer became Schafer, Schröder became Schroder, and Müller became Muller. Others replaced the letters with their equivalents – thus Schäfer became Schaefer, Schröder became Schroeder, and Müller became Mueller.

Some German names, based on an occupation or a characteristic, were simply translated into an English equivalent. Examples of this could be:
Klein – Small
König – King
Müller – Miller
Schneider – Taylor
Schwarz – Black
Zimmermann – Carpenter
Sometimes a letter or two might be changed or omitted to make a German name appear less obviously German – Brohmann, for instance, became Brohman. Many names were changed in such ways during World War 1.


A good source for the meanings and origins of German names is Deutsches Namenlexikon by Hans Bahlow and translated by Edda Gentry into English as Dictionary of German names. However this work covers only names from the traditional German areas. 

For those of us with family origins in the former eastern territories, Pommersche Familiennamen: ihr Geschichts- und Heimatwert also by Hans Bahlow (only in German) is a worthwhile reference.

Given names

Sometimes tracking your German family can be frustrating because of changing names in Australian documents. Why would someone who is referred to as Pauline on one document appear as Annie on another? Why should Johann Philipp suddenly become Philipp Johann? And why was Wilhelmine sometimes Wilhelmina – didn’t she know how to spell her name?

Some of this confusion can be explained when we understand that many 19th century Germans had two or three (or more) given names, and that they were known by other than the first of those names. In some German birth records, the name by which the person was to be known was underlined. This was the Rufname, or the called name. For example, one family had sons named Johann Philipp, Johannes, Johann Heinrich, Johann Franz and Johann Georg. They were known as Philipp, Johannes, Heinrich, Franz and Georg. Imagine what might have occurred when an official unfamiliar with German naming customs recorded Philipp’s details. “Your name?” “Philipp.” “Have you another name?” “Johann”. So it should not be a surprise to find Johann Philipp recorded as Philipp Johann, or Anne Pauline recorded as Pauline Annie.

In German, an “e” at the end of a name is almost always pronounced, so that there is not much difference in the pronunciation of Wilhelmine and Wilhelmina for example, especially to ears not used to German pronunciation.
As in English, German names may have diminutives: Friedrich could become Fritz (Freddie), Johann could become Hans (Johnnie or Jack), Wilhelmine or Wilhelmina could become Minnie, and Anne or Anna could become Annie.

Many given names in German have equivalents in English so it is understandable that Georg became George, Friedrich became Frederick, Heinrich became Henry, Franz became Frank, Wilhelm became William, Gertraut became Gertrude and so on.

As well, some people might adopt an English name where there was no obvious equivalent. Gustav Kopittke appeared as George in some Post Office Directories.

Things to note

  1. Many 19th century Germans had multiple given names and may have been known by the second or third name, the Rufname.
  2. The spelling of German surnames was sometimes changed. Keep an open mind when researching.
  3. German names might be translated. Many given names have English equivalents, and surnames based on occupations or characteristics could easily be changed to English ones.
  4. A good source for the meanings and origins of German names is Deutsches Namenlexikon by Hans Bahlow and translated by Edda Gentry into English as Dictionary of German names.
  5. For names from the former eastern territories, Pommersche Familiennamen: ihr Geschichts- und Heimatwert also by Hans Bahlow (only in German) is a worthwhile reference.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this post. It explains so much about my father's family whose ancestors were Johann & Johann Jnr. Then subsequent generations were always John and their Rufname. Woo Hoo! This will help me progress my research and understand some of the naming choices my ancestors made. Thank you.

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  2. Another trap I found with a few Dorfprozelten people (or perhaps just that ship) was the way women revealed their maiden name so the only surname given for her on the record is actually her mother's maiden name. If I didn't have the fantastic local history I'd never have realised this.

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  3. Eric, Question about Rufnames - Is this gender specific, being applied mostly to or exclusively to males or did/does it apply as much to females? Have been sent some information from a 'removed cousin' and knowing the answer to this question would very much help me understand the information I've been sent. Thanks for your answer.

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    Replies
    1. Lyndal, I believe that it applies to females as well. I've come across quite a few situations where that has been the case.

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