Janice, not only were there name changes, there was a shift in religious affiliation. This was done to appear more Anglicised and to "fit in" a little better. The name changes and religious shift happened in my own family. They used to be strict lutheran, but now we have just about every denomination imaginable in our family. Seems like once they broke with the Lutheran faith, then it turned into a free for all. I also think that with the passing of the first generation immigrants the strong influence to retain everything that was German (culture, language, food, heirarchy, allegance etc.) was watered down or just completely lost. Religion has caused lots of arguments. Name changes have given us genealogical searchers headaches. Makes me wish they left a paper trail for us to follow rather than having to try to rectify one fact with another to put the family together. cheers, Beverly. Life on Earth is Expensive, but at least you get a free trip around the sun....... So wear a hat and enjoy the ride!

Hi Everyone Sorry to be a bit behind on this subject but I thought I would let you know of a reason for a name change in one of my german ancestors first names. My ggreat uncle's name in Aust was Frank but I found out a few months ago that his german birth name is spelt Focho. When I found out how this name is pronounced in german (the first 'o' has an english 'u' sound) I could understand why he changed it to Frank. Pronunciation (and what words they may sound like here) could be another reason for a name change too. Regards Faye Queensland Australia