The word Maier/Meier/etc. did start with the meaning of a local authority or senior farmer, but it ended up by signifying any farmer or peasant - that is why Germany is full of "Meiers" today. The prefix Bell- can have different meanings depending on the area where the family lived - so you need to have some idea about that first. In northern Germany, there are town names like Bellen where the name could refer to. In eastern parts of Germany, Bell... was a popular local version of the name Balduin, so the name could hint at an ancestor who was a farmer known as Balduin. Otherwise, "bellen" was in many regions a word for argue/quarrel/brawl, and Bellmeyer would then be a name for a farmer known to be aggressive or belligerent. (There is a very similar name "Bellmann" with the same background.) Regards, René Von: baden-wurttemberg-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:baden-wurttemberg-bounces@rootsweb.com] Im Auftrag von Don Watson Gesendet: Freitag, 9. Januar 2009 22:26 An: baden-wurttemberg@rootsweb.com Betreff: Re: [BW] Maier? Hi......... "B" and "P" were interchangeable in earlier German speech. One region might spell it Bellmaier, another Pellmaier, or there may have been only one "l". "Maier" indicates a person of authority, in addition to something like that of a local "Mayor". He was the senior person in charge of more than one location, property, estate, farm, or the senior farmer in the vicinity. One finds it spelled "Me" in northern and parts of central Germany, and with "Ma" in southern portions. In earlier centuries the population was more stable as to location --- even after wars and civil uprisings, they tended to return "home" or exit, stage left, to the USA and other points. You can research name origins at my webpage, http://members.cox.net/hessen/telephones.htm Just keep scrolling down the page. It'll jump out at you. Another word for Maier was Schulte, which more closely resembles a local mayor. I wouldn't overlook the possibility of a village named "Bell", with a "Maier", in the area you are researching. I wouldn't exclude a village named "Pell", or Bellmeyer or Pellmeyer, either. Check out the old http://familysearch.org, and the NEW site under development, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=familysearch.org-search+pilot&rlz=1W1GDNA_en&aq=7&oq=familysearch. :-) Don Sitz der Gesellschaft / Corporate Headquarters: Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft, Koeln, Registereintragung / Registration: Amtsgericht Koeln HR B 2168 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats / Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Juergen Weber Vorstand / Executive Board: Wolfgang Mayrhuber (Vorsitzender / Chairman), Stephan Gemkow, Stefan Lauer ----- Original Message ----- From: <VistaRon96@aol.com> To: <baden-wurttemberg@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 2:21 PM Subject: Re: [BW] Maier? I have the same problem with my BELLMEYER ancestors. There are a hundred ways of spelling it. As of yet we do not have the original spelling. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BADEN-WURTTEMBERG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message