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The following brief extract is taken from the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
GERMAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH by Clifford Neal and Anna
Piszczan-Czaja, copyright 1976 by R.R. Bowker Co. For more
information, you may wish to purchase a copy from R.R. Bowker
Co., 1180 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, or ask
at you favorite bookstore.
GERMAN SURNAMES IN AMERICA
The surnames of eighteenth-century German immigrants to America
underwent distinct, often drastic, changes in American official
records. These changes can be summarized as follows:
* Wherever there was an obvious near-equivalent in English to the
German surname, American officials were likely to use it, with or
without permission of the bearer; thus, Schmid-Schmidt-Schmitz
usually was recorded as Smith, Mu*ller-Mo*ller became Miller,
Braun became Brown.
* Wherever there was a translatable equivalent for German
surname, some family members were likely sooner or later to adopt
it, usually in the third generation and thereafter; thus
Zimmermann became Carpenter, Scheider became Taylor, Du*rr became
Dry, Gerber became Tanner, Bauer became Farmer.
* Wherever American pronunciation was confounded by German
orthography, the German surname was likely to be changed in such
manner as to preserve the original German pronunciation of it;
thus Ewald became Awalt, Dreier became Dryer, Meier-Maier became
Myer, Koch became Cook, Bauer became Bower.
* Orthographic accommodations occurred in a large portion of the
German surnames almost entirely with the intention of retaining
the original pronunciation in dialect. As a consequence,
genealogical researchers should consider all surnames which can
be soundexed in the same class to be possible equivalents and
their bearers to be related. See National Archives Soundex
Rules.
* Since many of the early-day officials in eastern Pennsylvania
were Scotch-Irish, the orthographic changes in German surnames
often betray Scotch-Irish spelling notions; thus, German surnames
with the suffix -bach are frequently written -buagh; Strasbach
becomes Strasbaugh, Richartzbach becomes Rickabaugh.
Very little can be said about orthographic shifts in German
surnames for immigrants of the nineteenth century. In general,
it appears that literacy was much higher than it had been among
immigrants of the previous century and that the later immigrants
tended to demand correct spelling of their surnames in American
records. For that reason, genealogical researchers are less
likely to encounter the anomalies common among surnames of
eighteenth-century immigrants to America.
* When a German surname in America appears in the same form as it
would in a modern-day telephone book of a German city, one can
usually be certain it pertains to a family immigrating to America
since the Civil War.
* Wherever a German surname in America still retains an umulauted
vowel (here written with an * following the letter-JW), such as
a* = ae, as in Ha*hnisch (in America written as Haehnisch)
o* = oe, as in O*sterreicher (in America written as
Oesterreicher)
u* = ue, as in Du*rr (in America written as Duerr),
it pertains almost certainly to an immigrant since the Civil War.
* As noted in a preceding section of this article, German
immigration from Alemannic areas of Germany (Baden-Wu*rttemberg,
Rheinland-Pfalz) antedates that of northern and eastern Germany
and Bavaria by as much as a century. One can therefore state
that, as a rule of thumb, Westphalian and Saxon surnames, of
which there are very many in the United States, will be
encountered only among nineteenth-century immigrants.
...For German-American genealogical researchers soundexing
provides a powerful tool allowing them to consider together the
most likely spelling variations of surname and uncovering
possible relationships between lineages apparently entirely
unrelated. for example, the index to Strassberger's and Hinke's
"Pennsylvania German Pioneers" shows the following entries for
families of similar sounding surnames, some of which may be
related, despite the spelling variations. Under soundex rules
all these surname entries would have appeared together"
- Deile (Theyle) - Teul
- Deill - Theil (Teyle, Theyl)
- Diehl (Diel, Dihll, Tiel, - Thiel (Tiel, dihl, Tiell, Till)
Till)
- Diele - Thiele (Teele)
- Doll (Dohl) - Toll (Dill, Tholl)
- Do*lle (Dolle) - To*lly
Additional Measures for German surnames
---------------------------------------
Despite the great power of the soundex system, further steps can
be taken to enhance its usefulness in tracing German surnames.
We suggest the following:
Step 1: After having coded the German surname under normal
soundex rules above, compare it with all other initial letters of
the same code class.
Example 1: Crumbine (C651), Grumbine (G651), and Krumbein (K651).
Since C, G, and K are of the same code class 2 in the soundex
rules, one is led to the assumption that the three surnames are
variations. Because Krumbein is the original German surname (it
means crooked leg), it is clear that Crumbine and Grumbine are
American variations unlikely to appear in German emigration and
vital records.
Example 2: Awalt (A430) and Ewald (E430). Since A and E are of
the same code class 7 (vowels), the two surnames are equivalents.
German speakers will quickly point out that the immigrant
probably sought to preserve the German pronunciation of Ewald by
changing it to Awalt.
Example 3: Folz (F420) and Volz (V420). F and V being of the
same code class 1, the two surnames are equivalents; Folz in
American, Volz is German.
Step 2: In general, it can be said that, wherever possible,
German immigrants sought to preserve the pronunciation of their
surnames, not the original German spellings. A few letters of
the alphabet are pronounced differently in German and English,
thus causing orthographic change when they are written by English
speakers. These possibilities are not fully encompassed by the
present soundex rules.
The German W is pronounced like the English V. The German
surname West might become Vest in English. German surnames
beginning with W should be listed in code class 1, rather than
with the vowels (code class 7) as shown in basic soundex rules,
in order to disclose possible surname variations.
The German J is pronounced like the English Y. The German
surname Jaeger is often written as Yeager in America, thus
preserving the original German pronunciation. In Soundex lists
of surnames, one should include German surnames beginning with J
in code class 7 with the vowels.
It is said that some German surnames beginning G have been
softened to Y in early Pennsylvania. Goder is said to have
become Yoder, Goetter became Yetter. This was caused by German
dialect shifts. We suggest that such shifts be dealt with, if at
all, only when soundexing the first generations of Pennsylvania
Germans; probably it is not necessary for name lists of
immigrants after the American Revolution.
Step 3: Finally, and quite apart from soundex considerations,
researchers will want to consider the possibility of complete
name translation. This occurs, in particular, when the German
surname denotes a trade, quality, color, or day of the week.
Here are some examples:
In Germany In America
---------- ----------
Zimmermann Carpenter
Jaeger Hunter
Schaefer Shepherd
Vogel Bird
Koenig King
Gerber Tanner
Weiss White
Schreiner Joiner
Schneider Taylor
Suess Sweet
Fuchs Fox
Freitag Friday
Schwartz Black
Du*rr Dry
Roth Redd
Gru*nbaum Greentree
There is, of course, no certain way to determine when a direct
translation has taken place. there are, however, some clues:
* When a German given name accompanies and english-sounding
surname, one may suspect such translation. For example, Johannes
Bauer or Meier; Franz Josef Carpenter might have been Franz Josef
Zimmermann.
* When an English surname oddly appears in a group of German
surnames, here also a translation may be suspected. the rule is
hardly invariable, of course; Horace Greely Hjalmar Schacht,
Hitler's economic minister, is an exception and, no doubt, there
are others.
* Finally, when a translatable English surname cannot be traced
in America before the first World War, one should look for its
German equivalent. Anti-German feeling was then high and some
German-Americans found it advantageous to change their names.