Up here in New York, we spell it "Geiger" and pronounce it like is rhymes with "tiger." My grandfather came to America in 1910 as an adult, and this is the way he pronounced it. He came from the Württemberg area of Germany. I have found my Geiger direct line back to 1600, and the spelling has been consistant all the way back. I have always heard that in German, the letters "ei" is pronounced as "i" and the letters "ie" is pronounced as "e." Has anyone else heard this? Ruth