Andy,     there is a decent possibility that the surnames are the same. I am researching Stoskopf (French form) and Stosskopf(f) (the more German form). Often you will see two dots (an umlaut) over a, o, u, which means basically ae, oe, and ue. So you might see names like Muller (with umlaut over the u) or Mueller. The vowel with umlaut are pronounce more like e. The same may be the case for Mersch, it could be that there was the umalaut over the o and then it when translated they dropped the o. Moersch sounds kind of like Mersch but I wouldn't be surprised if the records were in Alsace to see the signatures show the umlauted o instead of an e. This has happened with some other names I've seen an ae name change but can't recall it right now. Note: French and German records for the same person may spell their names differently and the person may not sign the way the record reads. Some forname examples: German     French (most are obvious) Johannes           Jean Peter                 Pierre Gottlfried            Geoffroi   (This one was especially hard for me to sort out) Jacob                Jacques  Karl                    Charles Magdalena      Madeleine or Madelaine Many examples where ending a changes to e. Maria to Marie, Eva, Catharina, etc. Michael             Michel Georg                Georges Barbe                Barbara Margaretha      Marguerite Heinrich           Henri Friedrich          Frederic Lorentz           Lawrence Moritz             Maurice Phillip             Philippe Othile              Adele Etc. I think many here could add tough one that may have stumped them at some point. There are many more and various forms, but these are off the top of my head. The Gottfried/Geofroi threw me for a loop for quite awhile until I noticed that the two individuals in my tree looked very similar in location and mothers maiden name. The same goes for town names. But this is generally not as hard to figure out. Kirrweiller = Kirrwiller, Elsass = Alsace, Wasselnheim = Wasselonne etc. Good luck connecting the families. I'd be curious to see if you have the umlaut over the older records or not. Regards, Dave "I have traced my ancestory back to the mid 1700's in Germany (Mittelreidenbach area - Pfalz) and there seems to be a connection to Lorraine. Could these surnames be the same? -  Morsch / Mersch in French and Morscher / Merscher in German? The French names come from Creutzwald. From what I see in Family books, these names appear to be the same."

David, your post is very interesting. I agree with the Mersch/Mörsch explanation. A few additions/corrections: - Gottfried is indeed Geoffroy in French, another form is Godefroy. - Lorentz = Laurent in French - Othile and Adele are distinct names. Adele (German) = Adèle (French) = a short form of Adelheid / Adélaïde. Othilia = Odile in French. BTW the Mont Sainte Odile is a famous and beautiful place in Alsace. See: http://www.mont-sainte-odile.com/ http://www.juste-pour-voir.net/20100413MSO/ A nice Pentecost weekend to all listers, Etienne Le 10 juin 11 à 18:49, David Fetherston a écrit : > Andy, > > there is a decent possibility that the surnames are the same. I > am researching Stoskopf (French form) and Stosskopf(f) (the more > German form). Often you will see two dots (an umlaut) over a, o, u, > which means basically ae, oe, and ue. So you might see names like > Muller (with umlaut over the u) or Mueller. The vowel with umlaut > are pronounce more like e. > > The same may be the case for Mersch, it could be that there was the > umalaut over the o and then it when translated they dropped the o. > Moersch sounds kind of like Mersch but I wouldn't be surprised if > the records were in Alsace to see > the signatures show the umlauted o instead of an e. This has > happened with some other names I've seen an ae name change but can't > recall it right now. > > Note: French and German records for the same person may spell their > names differently and the person may not sign the way the record > reads. > > Some forname examples: German French (most are obvious) > > Johannes Jean > Peter Pierre > Gottlfried Geoffroi (This one was especially hard for > me to sort out) > > Jacob Jacques > Karl Charles > > Magdalena Madeleine or Madelaine > > Many examples where ending a changes to e. Maria to Marie, Eva, > Catharina, etc. > > Michael Michel > Georg Georges > Barbe Barbara > Margaretha Marguerite > Heinrich Henri > Friedrich Frederic > Lorentz Lawrence > Moritz Maurice > Phillip Philippe > Othile Adele > > Etc. I think many here could add tough one that may have stumped > them at some point. > There are many more and various forms, but these are off the top of > my head. The Gottfried/Geofroi threw me for a loop for quite awhile > until I noticed that the two individuals in my tree looked very > similar in location and mothers maiden name. > > The same goes for town names. But this is generally not as hard to > figure out. Kirrweiller = Kirrwiller, Elsass = Alsace, Wasselnheim = > Wasselonne etc. > > Good luck connecting the families. I'd be curious to see if you have > the umlaut over the older records or not. > > Regards, > Dave > > > > "I have traced my ancestory back to the mid 1700's in Germany > (Mittelreidenbach area - Pfalz) and there seems to be a connection > to Lorraine. Could these surnames be the same? - Morsch / Mersch in > French and Morscher / Merscher in German? The French names come from > Creutzwald. From what I see in Family books, these names appear to > be the same."