Karen Deeds-Jarvie wrote: > > I have a question that only another frustrated genealogist can answer. If you were searching for the wife of a man named Johannes, and two possibilities in the death index occurred, which would you choose, the one listed as the wife of JOHANNES, or the wife of JOHAN? Would there be an old world distinction? Both women I have found could be my 6-ggrandfather's wife. They are both named Maria Catharina, and both died within two years of each other, and both were only 8 years apart in age. I tend to lean toward the Johannes, because it is definite. So many of the people we research in the Pfalz have the name Johann before the name they go by. All of my 5-ggrandfather's sons were named Johann-something, even the one named Johannes. > In my experience with German names there often was a first name, usually Johann or Peter or Anna or Maria, with a second name by which the person was known. EXCEPT when the person's name was Johannes, then the first Johann was not used. This is true for Lutheran and Reformed. So I would go with the Johannes. Actually in a similar case I would add a second marriage for Johannes. In the first I would have the sentence read, "Johannes probably married Maria Catherina Surname1, yyyy -yyyy." The sentence for the second marriage would read "It is possible that Johannes married Maria Catherine Surname2, yyyy - yyyy". Are the two marriage records missing or perhaps not in the town or church where the children were baptized and the women died? Karen are you saying that your 5ggf's sons were names Johan Peter, Johan Michael, Johan Nicolas and Johan Johannes etc.? Did these names come from a film of the church records or from secondary sources? bob gillis