Here's a site done by another Egner researcher (Johann Mathias Egner of Berks/Lehigh PA). This site helped me understand all the Johanns and Marias, etc. when I first got started. He also has three different naming patterns that were commonly used. http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm He has some other nice links at the bottom of the page. Hope this helps. --Celia :o)