Here are three Rimpa entries in the 1910 census. I have no idea what the spellings might have been before immigration. I see no earlier occurrences of the name RIMPA in the (admittedly incomplete) census indexes I have. RIMPA JOHN 22 M W RUSS IL COOK 12-WD CHICAGO 1910 RIMPA JOSEPH 26 M W GERM IL COOK 29-WD CHICAGO 1910 RIMPA PEITO 30 M W FINL OR WASHINGTON GALES CRK PCT 1910 This is the only RIMPA in 1920: RIMPA EDDWALD 42 M W POLA IN LA PORTE SPRINGFIELD TWP 1920 The name seems to have come from all over northeastern Europe, though they may all have had common (Germanic?) roots. Or they may all have had names that were separately simplified into the same one when they came here to the states. I also found some REMPA entries - most of Polish or German birth and one born in Holland, in 1870, 1900, 1910 and 1920. The name RIMPAS occurs once or twice in 1910 and 1920, one from Greece, one from Germany, one born NY. Your sister might want to keep these variations in mind while doing her research. Nothing in PA I'm afraid. If she hasn't already, your sister might want to collect as much detailed info as possible from all living RIMPA relatives, family Bibles and other documents, and check immigration records (see archives.gov) esp. between 1890s and 1910s. She should also check for birth, death, burial and marriage records where the family as known to have lived, etc., working backward in time, keeping very thorough notes. She may be able to contact some living Rimpas, in Erie Co. e.g., by looking them up in online white pages or doing a People Search. I found 38 entries beginning with RIMPA this way; some were spelled Rimpau, some even longer. A few were in PA - in Ligonier, Union City and Waterford. --- Karleen <eeyore@ojai.net> wrote: > I am trying to help my sister with her Rimpa > family line. She is just starting to gather > information to make a record for her children. > Has anyone here ever heard the name "Rimpa" > Her line is the only one in the u.s or > anywhere for that matter. I figure it must > have been changed when they came to america but > have no idea what it could have started as. I > understand that there are still Rimpa's living > in the Erie county now . __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com