Bob writes.....<for those of you wondering about German naming practices... Perhaps the following may help some listers. From Charles F. Kerchner,Jjr. comes: "At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given name was a spiritual, saint's name. The second given name was the secular or call name, which is the name the person was known by, both within the family and to the rest of the world. ...the use of Saint John was the most common example of this custom, but Saint George was often used too. ...The term "Senior" and "Junior" ...did not necessarily imply a father and son relationship...it could have been an uncle and nephew who had the same name and lived nearby. ...The term cousin was widely used to mean an extended family, not the specific legal definition we understand...today." He also shows 3 naming patterns which may be of help in sorting through the haystacks. For more details go to www.kerchner.com/germname and click on 18th Century PA German Naming Customs. Jeri

The website doesn't open with your address you posted http://members.tripod.com/~Silvie/Schilling.html

Jeri -- > "At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given > name was a spiritual, saint's name. The second given name was the secular > or call name, which is the name the person was known by, both within the > family and to the rest of the world. <clip> The reason I wore as I did was to discredit perpetuating statements like this. Just because one finds things on the internet doesn't mean they are accurate. While the above statement may be true to persons following the Roman Catholic faith, it was not true to the Reformed, Evangelical or Jewish faiths, none of which had "Saints." In the 1782 recruits from Brunswick, less than 10% were Catholic. My recommendation to anyone interested in the naming patterns of the town which they have an intestes is to get a copy of the baptismal records and look for them selves. When 90 out of 100 children's names mirror the names of the godparents, "Bye-bye, Saint John." One observation (which may be coinicidental as I lack a large enough data base to prove the theory) is that there becomes a preponderance of the same names in a given town. I suspect this is the result of the lack of mobility of the populace as new names are only added when a new name comes to town or someone doesn't follow the convention. In theory, if there were ten diffenent male names and ten diffetent female names when the town formed and there where no additions from outside, then a hundred or two hundred years later, you would have the same twenty names, ten male and ten female, unless a line died out. Bob Brooks

Thanks, Bob. A point well taken and it may be true. Though my Hessian ancestor, George Christian Schaeffer was Reformed Lutheran, and the "George" part of his name appears only in marriage records. He is known--true to Kerchner's suggested pattern--as Christian Schaeffer in all other public and private records I've found. I guess not all the old customs died with the emergence of Protestant faiths. And while Kerchner's suggested patterns may not hold true, it's another possible route when the old brick wall appears. Helped me find one distant relative. Jeri From: "Bob Brooks" <rcbrooks@pivot.net> To: <AMREV-HESSIANS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 10:44 AM Subject: Re: [HESSIAN] German names > Jeri -- > > > "At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given > > name was a spiritual, saint's name. The second given name was the secular > > or call name, which is the name the person was known by, both within the > > family and to the rest of the world. <clip> > > The reason I wore as I did was to discredit perpetuating statements like > this. Just because one finds things on the internet doesn't mean they are > accurate. > > While the above statement may be true to persons following the Roman > Catholic faith, it was not true to the Reformed, Evangelical or Jewish > faiths, none of which had "Saints." In the 1782 recruits from Brunswick, > less than 10% were Catholic. > > My recommendation to anyone interested in the naming patterns of the town > which they have an intestes is to get a copy of the baptismal records and > look for them selves. When 90 out of 100 children's names mirror the names > of the godparents, "Bye-bye, Saint John." > > One observation (which may be coinicidental as I lack a large enough data > base to prove the theory) is that there becomes a preponderance of the same > names in a given town. I suspect this is the result of the lack of mobility > of the populace as new names are only added when a new name comes to town or > someone doesn't follow the convention. In theory, if there were ten > diffenent male names and ten diffetent female names when the town formed and > there where no additions from outside, then a hundred or two hundred years > later, you would have the same twenty names, ten male and ten female, unless > a line died out. > > Bob Brooks > > > > ==== AMREV-HESSIANS Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe click on AMREV-HESSIANS-L-request@rootsweb.com > and write one single word unsubscribe in subject line and text field. > No other words or explanations or it won't work. > ~~~~~~~~~~~ > You can search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another. > To search: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=AMREV-HESSIANS > To browse: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/AMREV-HESSIANS-L > > ============================== > View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find > marriage announcements and more. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx >

Bob, You are so right I visited Oberemmel Germany (very small community) where a lot of my ancestors originated. I found graves in the Catholic churchyard with Schmitts Nilles, Kopps, With same names married to same people , except the dates were more recent. the ladies tending the graves said after awhile they just toss the old gravestones and bury on top of old grave so this seems to agree with what you say No new names are introduced It was a strange feeling to see newer dates on same names . AM I my own Grandma??? Mary Anne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Brooks" <rcbrooks@pivot.net> To: <AMREV-HESSIANS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 10:44 AM Subject: Re: [HESSIAN] German names > Jeri -- > >> "At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given >> name was a spiritual, saint's name. The second given name was the >> secular or call name, which is the name the person was known by, both >> within the family and to the rest of the world. <clip> > > The reason I wore as I did was to discredit perpetuating statements like > this. Just because one finds things on the internet doesn't mean they are > accurate. > > While the above statement may be true to persons following the Roman > Catholic faith, it was not true to the Reformed, Evangelical or Jewish > faiths, none of which had "Saints." In the 1782 recruits from Brunswick, > less than 10% were Catholic. > > My recommendation to anyone interested in the naming patterns of the town > which they have an intestes is to get a copy of the baptismal records and > look for them selves. When 90 out of 100 children's names mirror the > names of the godparents, "Bye-bye, Saint John." > > One observation (which may be coincidental as I lack a large enough data > base to prove the theory) is that there becomes a preponderance of the > same names in a given town. I suspect this is the result of the lack of > mobility of the populace as new names are only added when a new name comes > to town or someone doesn't follow the convention. In theory, if there > were ten different male names and ten different female names when the town > formed and there where no additions from outside, then a hundred or two > hundred years later, you would have the same twenty names, ten male and > ten female, unless a line died out. > > Bob Brooks > > > > ==== AMREV-HESSIANS Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe click on AMREV-HESSIANS-L-request@rootsweb.com > and write one single word unsubscribe in subject line and text field. > No other words or explanations or it won't work. ~~~~~~~~~~~ > You can search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going > from one message to another. To search: > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=AMREV-HESSIANS > To browse: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/AMREV-HESSIANS-L > > ============================== > View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find > marriage announcements and more. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx > >

I don't know how common it was in the time of the Am. Rev. but today there is an accepted list of names that is government approved in Germany. You cannot "create" a name or depart from the list for your child's official registration.The spelling must be standard also. The list has expanded over the years. My understanding is that Protestant (Evangelisch) Germans usually selected Old Testament names while Catholic parents selected those from the new Testament and later saints. Ann agatha1@flash.net