Karel Kysilka wrote: > > SPANHEL, SPANIEL, SPANEL, also SPANIHEL are rather common Czech surnames, describing the origin of the bearer: The Spaniard. Either, in fact, one whose ancesto > The distribution of the surname in Bohemia and Moravia is regular, no specific areas of occurence. > Karel > ---------- > Od: Stephanie Spanhel[SMTP:sspanhel@GARCIA.EFN.ORG] > Odeslano: 19. kvltna 1997 3:50 > Komu: GEN-SLAVIC@MAIL.EWORLD.COM > Pxedmlt: Surname: SPANHEL > > Hi all ... > > I'm looking for anything I can find on this (my) surname. Migration to > the US from Czechoslovkia 1910-1940? Walter Spanhel, my grandfather, b. > 1924-1926 in Cz. or US; d. 1960-1961 in US, Tx. Nobody who knows is left > alive, and the folks who knew didn't tell when they were living ... I'm > especially interested in when and why. Any leads would be great -- and > I'm certain it's not a misspelling. > > Thanks, > Stephanie Spanhel Hi Stephanie, I was very interested in the possible connection with the Spaniel name with a possible Spanish origin of a Bohemian name. My interest stems from a possible connection /origin of my namme (Gugos) with the famous Spanish town Burgos- which was on the main route to the Shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain for centuries.My immediate ancestors came from Eastern Slovakia, but I have heard of another large Bugos family living in Plzen and others living in Andora and a famous goldsmith who lived just north of Burgos in France. There was a lot more movement of people in Europe than I had suspected in the middle ages. Major migrations took place when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and when the Protestants were expelled from France in 1685. There was also a stream of artisans moving around as the conditions in varios ares changed. John Bugosh