Kent wrote: Is the Swiss Familiennamenbuch available on line or or on FHL microfilm? I have a number of early Württemberg ancestors who were from Switzerland. Me: It seems like I've found it online occasionally in the past but haven't seen it lately--most likely because the publisher with the rights to it makes a good profit on selling it. You can buy it or get a film of it via the FHL/FHC's. The LDS film is from the 1940 edition which should not be a problem considering that most of us are looking for Swiss roots considerably earlier than that. A good explanation about the register of Swiss surnames is found at: http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/famnam-m.htm The webpage above contains the following sentence but when I go to the link I can't find how to access the list. I know I've used this site before and it was no problem. Perhaps the link is old and the online access to the list now suppressed. Sentence mentioned in previous paragraph: "The CD version (citizenships since before 1861) may also be consulted online." The link given with the above sentence is: http://history.swissroots.org/swissroots/en/stories/heritage/Genealogy.html?f=&p=&c[]=Swiss+Family+Name+Handbook&rg=10&jreg=0&m=&action=show&id= A section for the Scheck surname is posted at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sweetpoe/scheck/famil.html gives you a sample of what to expect. Picton Press published an English edition in 3 volumes (over 2,000 pages) for $150. It's out of print but appears still to be available in new and used copies. SWISS SURNAMES: A COMPLETE REGISTER. Commonly known as Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz By: Emil Meier(Other Contributors) ISBN-10: 0897252063 ISBN-13: 9780897252065 Publisher: Picton Press - 1995-01-01 Hardcover | 2112 Pages | List Price: $149.50 (USD) Here is the blurb from the 1995 hard copy (3 Volume 1995 Edition available used for $150 at Amazon.com): These volumes contain every surname now found in Switzerland, a total of 48,500 surnames arranged alphabetically, together with information giving exactly in which Heimat or community the surnames enjoy hereditary rights of citizenship. Roughly half of these surnames were established in Switzerland prior to 1800 (often in the Middle Ages); the other 24,500 surnames have settled in Switzerland since 1800. See: http://www.amazon.com/SWISS-SURNAMES-COMPLETE-REGISTER-Familiennamenbuch/dp/0897252063 You can also get it on CD from Picton and this appears to be the most useful and best value--it's only $45. Here is Picton's explanation: Swiss Surnames CD Add to Cart SKU: 2041 ISBN: Our Price: $45.00 Description: Our printed edition of Swiss Surnames (Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz) has now gone out of print. We have replaced it with a new CD-ROM edition based on the new Familiennamenverzeichnis der schweizer Bürger bis 1861 edited by Hans Minder and Alfred Imhof which was released, in German, in 2002 by the Genealogisch-Heraldische Gesellschaft des Kantons Bern and was made available to Picton Press by GHGB. This new edition simplifies our 1995 edition by eliminating surnames which entered Switzerland after 1861 (the later arrivals are of no interest to American genealogists), and adds data on thousands of families. An important bonus is that we also present the list of surnames by Heimatort, so that once you locate the all-important Heimatort of your ancestors, you can see what other surnames also originated in that Heimatort. This feature will help you greatly in casese where you have narrowed your search to several possible Heimatort, and can cross-reference several other surnames (wives, friends, etc.) to see which specific Heimatort contains all or most of those surnames. This is a must-have CD for all genealogists researching Switzerland. Reference for above is http://www.pictonpress.com/store/show/1077 When I have a single surname to ask about, I usually just ask for a lookup on the Switzerland rootsweb list. Regards, Paul