Thanks Bill, I have seen several different versions of German naming patterns on line. It may all be in which "expert" you believe. I have been told for years that German families would name all their sons, Johannes, Johann, Hans, with the eldest using the name "John", and the rest going by what we would call their middle name. They did the same with girls, sometimes using Anna, and sometimes Mary, and sometimes both. It had something to do with their Lutheran Religion. I would guess that your Dietrich and Heinrich had an older brother Johannes (John). This naming pattern went away after a few generations in this country. My German to English dictionary says that "Hans" in German translates to "Jack" in English. Now I understand why Jack is a nickname for John. We owe that to our German ancetors. Don ----- Original Message ----- From: "candace ramseur" <cramseur@emeraldis.com> To: "Don Claypool" <dc3665@cooketech.net> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 9:42 PM Subject: Re: [CATAWBA-WEST] Nicholas Fry > Don, I've read a slighty different take of the naming of German speaking > families. They may use the first name in several children and then drop > it and call the child by the second name. > For instance Johannes Dietrich Ramsauer was called Dietrich. Johannes > Heinrich Ramsauer was called Heinrich. If they really wanted to call > the child Johannes then they used that name alone. > I can't remember the source where I read this. > Bill Ramseur