It is very common U.S. registrars left out letters when german immigrants said their names. They just wrote the name down as it sounded. If you pronouce Böbel it actually sounds like Böbl. I have got a friend who's ancestor's name originally was LEITZ and the U.S. registrar made LIGHTSEY out of it. It just sounded like that for him. Best would be to try and locate the origin of this family through immigration records in the U.S. or emigration records in Germany. Some emigrants could neither read nor write. Most could not speak english and thus rather kept quiet then starting discussions with the registrar on the correct spelling of their names. Also think of their emotional situation. They arrived in a foreign country, with no clear future and a lot of fear. They just took what they got, including the new spelling of their names... Regards, Thierry   Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich D-61250 Usingen ________________________________ Von: JK <[email protected]> An: [email protected] Gesendet: Samstag, den 21. März 2009, 17:08:02 Uhr Betreff: Re: [HESSE] Help with last name That would make the odds of finding the only other Bobl in Tavistock rather long. The Böbel name assumes leaving out a letter instead of merely choosing the wrong letter. And, I've never seen the name in the area. Closest to it locally would be Bubel. Since nothing is definitive, guess I'll have to somehow locate his grave stone. Thanks to all submitters Thierry Dietrich wrote: > Bobl and Böbl have only one single occurrence each on GeoGen for entire Germany. Personally I would guess your name comes from Böbel. This name has a bit more occurrences, but still is not quite frequent. > > The geographical distribution of this name may help you identify where your ancestors originally came from. Highest concentration indeed is in Schwaben and western Bavaria (probably Oberpfalz, not sure though). > > Check this link: > http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/v3/ > > Enter Böbel, press "Kartieren", then press for the relative distribution. > > Regards, > > Thierry >  > Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich > > D-61250 Usingen > > > > > ________________________________ > Von: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > An: [email protected] > Gesendet: Samstag, den 21. März 2009, 00:44:53 Uhr > Betreff: Re: [HESSE] Help with last name > > > In a message dated 3/20/2009 7:10:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  > [email protected] writes: > > "Bobl" > > >  in German this might be BOEBL oe ,the 2dots over the  Umlaut,(a,u too) >  Which might be of Bavarian or Austrian orig.?  Boebele  of swabian orig. > Just a thought.Doris. > **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store?  Make dinner for $10 or > less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >      >  > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

While that is true for many immigrants in the US, it does not hold true in most regards for the Waterloo region in Ontario, Canada. The original settlers came from Pennsylvania and retained their German heritage and founded their own German newspapers. Subsequent settlers from Germany who were enticed over by settlement companies such as the Canada Company, came with friends and relatives. It didn't matter how they were recorded at customs, if they couldn't write, friends could. Names were changed more as a convenience than a necessity. And, if looking at the early naturalization records of the 1840's, there were very few men who simply marked their "X". They could write their own names. Of course, many times the names written down in English beside them by the government official didn't match, but they knew their own names. In these obituaries, written in German by German editors, they would be careful to ensure the correct spellings. I could and have seen many problems in english language papers even in obits but the German papers were generally quite careful about getting the names correct. In essence, these people were not displaced persons trying to survive in an english community, they retained their own language and customs for years. It was non-Germans who had to try to fit into these communities. German was taught locally in the schools up to the 1890's and my own church in town retained special German services well into the 1960's. It only stopped because the new minister couldn't speak the language. A bit of a different circumstance JK Thierry Dietrich wrote: > It is very common U.S. registrars left out letters when german immigrants said their names. > > They just wrote the name down as it sounded. If you pronouce Böbel it actually sounds like Böbl. > > I have got a friend who's ancestor's name originally was LEITZ and the U.S. registrar made LIGHTSEY out of it. It just sounded like that for him. > > > Best would be to try and locate the origin of this family through immigration records in the U.S. or emigration records in Germany. > > Some emigrants could neither read nor write. Most could not speak english and thus rather kept quiet then starting discussions with the registrar on the correct spelling of their names. Also think of their emotional situation. They arrived in a foreign country, with no clear future and a lot of fear. They just took what they got, including the new spelling of their names... > > Regards, Thierry > > Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich > > D-61250 Usingen > > > > > ________________________________ > Von: JK <[email protected]> > An: [email protected] > Gesendet: Samstag, den 21. März 2009, 17:08:02 Uhr > Betreff: Re: [HESSE] Help with last name > > That would make the odds of finding the only other Bobl in Tavistock > rather long. The Böbel name assumes leaving out a letter instead of > merely choosing the wrong letter. And, I've never seen the name in the > area. Closest to it locally would be Bubel. > > Since nothing is definitive, guess I'll have to somehow locate his grave > stone. > > Thanks to all submitters > > > Thierry Dietrich wrote: >> Bobl and Böbl have only one single occurrence each on GeoGen for > > entire Germany. Personally I would guess your name comes from Böbel. > This name has a bit more occurrences, but still is not quite frequent. >> The geographical distribution of this name may help you identify where your ancestors originally came from. Highest concentration indeed is in Schwaben and western Bavaria (probably Oberpfalz, not sure though). >> >> Check this link: >> http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/v3/ >> >> Enter Böbel, press "Kartieren", then press for the relative distribution. >> >> Regards, >> >> Thierry >> >> Dr. Thierry P. Dietrich >> >> D-61250 Usingen >> >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> Von: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >> An: [email protected] >> Gesendet: Samstag, den 21. März 2009, 00:44:53 Uhr >> Betreff: Re: [HESSE] Help with last name >> >> >> In a message dated 3/20/2009 7:10:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, >> [email protected] writes: >> >> "Bobl" >> >> >> in German this might be BOEBL oe ,the 2dots over the Umlaut,(a,u too) >> Which might be of Bavarian or Austrian orig.? Boebele of swabian orig. >> Just a thought.Doris. >> **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or >> less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001) >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >