Email From  Adrianne  kee46@email.msn.com  to HUNSUCKER-L@rootsweb.com
Email Dated June 14, 2000


Published by: The Palatine Immigrant, Vol. X, No. 4 Spring, 1985

GERMAN NAMING PATTERNS
by Dr. Arta F. Johnson PHD

Within the past year, at least three articles have been published in various
journals, articles which deal (either in passing or as the chief topic) with
a German system of naming the children.  The system described requires the
first son of a couple to be named for the paternal grandfather; the first
daughter to be named for the paternal (or maternal) grandmother and the
second daughter of the maternal or paternal grandmother.  Sometimes the
system continues with which brothers and sisters are to have their names
perpetuated and in what order of precedence.  These articles have stated
categorically or implied clearly that this naming system was followed in all
families, in all centuries, and in all geographical locations, and is
therefore a marvelous help in tracing one's ancestors back through
generations.

Let me make here a categorical statement of my own in reply:  there is NO
naming system among the Germans that was ever followed in all families, in
all centuries, and in all geographical locations.  If the family researcher
adheres blindly to the system described above --or to any other system --
that researcher will end with the wrong ancestors.

The DUTCH did follow the naming system above; so did the Germans in the
northwestern part of Germany, including East Friesland and adjacent areas,
although none of the Germans held to a system as rigorously as did the
Dutch.  The "Palatines" who came into New York state in 1710 came into
contact with the Dutch (who had settled there much earlier), sometimes
attending the Dutch Reformed Church and marrying Dutch persons.  They did
frequently follow the Dutch naming system, but not invariably.

But the emigrants of 1710 and later in the 18th century did not come in any
great numbers from northern Germany; they came from other areas further
south, in particular Hessen, the Pfalz, Baden, Wurttemberg, Alsace, and
Switzerland.  In none of these areas did ANY naming system prevail.  This
author has searched extensively in Alsace, Switzerland, and the Pfalz, and
found not one instance of any naming system followed.  Other researchers
consulted have found the same absence of any system.  Parents named the kids
what they wanted to, and to chose a sponsor who usually had the same name --
and up to five more sponsors who did not.

Some mention should be made about baptismal sponsors.  In colonial American,
immigrants did not always have members of their families living close
enough -- or in America al all -- to be chosen as baptismal sponsors.
Friends and neighbors were the rule as much as the exception.  And the
child -- in Europe or in America -- did not necessarily have the same given
name {s} as one of the sponsors.  A study of any of the early church records
of PA will bear out these facts.

Some published articles also add that a man's middle initial can be used as
a clue to identifying his father:  that this initial stands for the father's
given name.  This also is not necessarily true.  In colonial PA, it is
definitely not true: in the 1700's, if a man used a middle initial, it stood
simply for his second given name; in the 1800's a middle initial could have
stood for (but did not always) the maiden surname of his mother.

One pattern among the Germans was common, but not an inflexible rule: the
giving of two Christian names to a child, and calling the child by the
second name.  In these instances, the family researcher should always record
both names, perhaps underlining the name by which the person was known, but
never recording only one name with or without an initial.

Another practice -- one hesitates to call it even that -- has been noticed
by several persons who have researched extensively in German church records:
parents often seem to have named a son or daughter for themselves.  But his
is not really provable, because the pool of German given names was so small
the same names are repeated endlessly in the village or church record.
Granted that a baby was named Jacob and his father was also named Jacob.
Was the baby named for his father, or for his grandfather Jacob, his uncle
Jacob, or one of his seventeen cousins named Jacob?  Or perhaps for the
mayor of the village, who was asked to stand sponsor because he could
(hopefully) be counted on for a handsome christening gift?  Or just because
the parents liked the name Jacob?  The church record gives the name; it does
not give the reason for choosing the name.

The only completely safe practice to follow is to document one's ancestry,
generation by generation, and take the names as one finds them.

-----------

FURTHER READING:

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GERMAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH, by Clifford Neal
Smith and Anna Piszczan-Czaja Smith. ( NY: R. R. Bowker Co. 1976)  Pages
99-100 contain an excellent discussion of given names in Germany, including
the fashions in names and the most commonly used names in several area,
religions, and time periods.

A GUIDE TO THE SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION OF GERMAN NAMES, by Arta F.
Johnson

THE ORIGINS, DEVELOPMENT, & MEANINGS OF GERMAN NAMES, by Arta F. Johnson

Dr. Johnson's publications can be order from her at 153 Aldrick Rd. Columbus
OH 43214.

 

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