On the other hand, this may just be a regional custom in the southern part of Germany, as I have been told by Germans living in Bavaria and Rheinland-Pfalz that that it was common for males to go by their middle name... According to Kerchner, < http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm > the first name was a spiritual name (saint's name) and the second, a secular name (rufnamen) was the name by which this person was commonly known. Ann in Iowa At 09:11 AM 1/20/2007, you wrote: >I also have ancestors who are from Freidewald Cassel in the northern >part of Germany and have never found them using the middle name. > Shirley Hunt > >Randi Meetzen <meetzen@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > While this may be true in the case of your ancestors, I would not > go by this as a hard and fast rule. After years of researching my > husbands family, who still lives in Germany, I have never found > this to be true. Perhaps it is a regional practice and is the case > in certain areas of Germany. My husbands family are from Berlin on > the maternal side and Bremen,and Oldenberg, which is Northern > Germany. Perhaps Southern Germany uses this practice, I dont know > as I havent come across it yet. >The Germans are very good at record keeping and recently >Ancestry.com has staretd to list German databases. >Not trying to be argumentative ,just mentioning my own experience. >I have German some genealogy on my webpages if you like to veiw it >http://360.yahoo.com/my_profile-3aZNZP48fqM3elMBsqiyi2PxqPXTUe2OLf7ABjw-?cq=1 > >Some of the names I am researching are Meentzen, Wulfing, Von der >Heydt, Topken, Grote, Schleiper >Randi > >ohlorain-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > >Today's Topics: > >1. Re: Name Puzzel (Lilly Martin) > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:37:10 +0200 >From: "Lilly Martin" >Subject: Re: [OHLORAIN] Name Puzzel >To: >Message-ID: <006b01c73ba2$948da500$7e115658@pcmy> >Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="windows-1256"; >reply-type=original > >Dear Readers, > >Anyone with German ancestors probably already knows this, but just in case >this might be news for some, I will share with you the fact that many if not >most Germans use their MIDDLE name as their CALLING name. > >For example: a baby boy is born to a family, and they christen him as : >Heinrich George . He will be called at home and at school and later in >adult life always as "George". This makes for confusion when after 100-200 >years a genealogist like us goes to look for records and census records, and >finds him legally listed as HENRY, or HEINRICH. It would make you want to >believe you were finding the wrong man, when in reality he used his middle >name as the calling name, and he used his TRUE first name when asked for it >in LEGAL matters such as deeds, court records, and census records. > >This rule holds true for LADIES as well. Margaret Elizabeth is always >called Elizabeth or Lizzie or Libby. Well, where did the Margaret go? They >just did not use it, except on her marriage certificate, or other such legal >papers. > >I am not sure WHY Germans do this, but I have found some Catholic people do >this as well, for example some German Catholics, and some Irish Catholics. >Maybe this tradition, or habit started off in Europe before the Reformation >(Protestant religions) and it just stuck in certain areas. > >Best regards, >Lilly >----- Original Message ----- >From: >To: >Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 6:43 AM >Subject: Re: [OHLORAIN] Name Puzzel > > > > Dear Pat and Ken, > > > > I had the same trouble with my Dad's Dad.....all my life Dad told me his > > Dad's name was George Henry but was called "Hank". When I "met" a > > cousin on > > this site, she said the grandfather's real name was Heinrich George -- he > > was > > married to the right grandmother's name, so I know it's him. > > > > I have a boss from Germany who lives on Fenn Road in Medina. She was all > > in > > a tizzy a few years back when the labels she ordered over the phone had > > her > > on "Senn" Road -- sometimes she is hard to understand with the accent, so > > the > > census takers could have had the same problem as Pat suggested. > > > > Alice > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > OHLORAIN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >------------------------------ > >To contact the OHLORAIN list administrator, send an email to >OHLORAIN-admin@rootsweb.com. > >To post a message to the OHLORAIN mailing list, send an email to >OHLORAIN@rootsweb.com. > >__________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >OHLORAIN-request@rootsweb.com >with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and >the body of the >email with no additional text. > > >End of OHLORAIN Digest, Vol 2, Issue 33 >*************************************** > > > >Randi Bowles-Meentzen > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >OHLORAIN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >Shirley > > >--------------------------------- >The fish are biting. > Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >OHLORAIN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >the quotes in the subject and the body of the message