Sharon McGinness asked: Can anyone tell me the meaning of "Oddels Michel"? It was apparently a nickname for my great-great grandfather... My response: Sharon, I think that is a Beiname, and it could be a very valuable genealogical clue for you. Let me explain. In the Volga villages, most, if not all of the men, had Beinamen. These were like nicknames. They helped to identify people, especially in Volga villages where there were many men with the same first name and even several with the same first and last names. In some cases, the Beinamen referred to a person's physical characteristics (example: rote Fritz = red Freddy, who had red hair). But many Beinamen actually were clan names that helped identify the branch or clan of a family that a person belonged to. For example, the Schneiders in Stahl am Karaman were divided into three or four clans: "die Appels Schneider," "die Vakles (or Frahlers?) Schneider," and "die Wilhelms Schneider." Evidently, the original Schneider colonist in Stahl had three sons. One married a woman named Appel, and their descendants became "die Appels Schneider." I'm not sure of the explanation for "die Vakles Schneider" and "die Wilhelms Schneider," but they referred to the descendants of the other two sons. Among the Stahl immigrants to the U.S., there was one whose Beiname was "Appels Heine." From that, one knew that he was named Heinrich and that he belonged to the Appels Schneider clan (i.e., the descendants of the first Schneider son who married an Appel). As for your great-great-grandfather's Beiname (Oddels Michel), I presume that his name was Michael and that "Oddels" referred to the clan name. It is likely that the family name had several branches, one of which was Oddels. A possible explanation is that a man in that branch of the family married a woman named Oddel. Another possibility is that "Oddel" refers to a place name. For example, in Stahl, there was one branch of the Kraus family referred to as "Wina" or "Wine." My theory is that the original Kraus colonist from which that branch is descended came from Wien (Vienna), Austria. The Beinamen are an invaluable tool for Volga German family researchers. Wherever possible, we should do everything possible to identify and preserve the Beinamen for our families and villages. David F. Schmidt Walnut Creek, CA, USA dfschmidt@astound.net