The reason I would assume that my great-grandfather would know better is that he would have known her parents personally. They married in Germany and came here with their first two children. But, I know anything is possible. For all I know, the person writing down the iformation from my great-grandfather may not have heard right and just wrote what he heard. Or was dealing with listening to a German accent and writing down what he thought he heard. I've been doing genealogy long enough not to totally discount anything. Thanks for the suggestions. Elaine On 5/30/07, J Ebaugh <jke32039@yahoo.com> wrote: > Elaine, > > Here's another thought on your name difficulties. You state that you thought your great-grandfather would know the name better than your grandfather, since your grandfather did not know his grandparents. However, since it was the maiden name of your grandfather's mother that was in question, I wonder if he got the name directly from her telling it to him. After all, she'd have a better knowledge of how her surname was pronounced (even if she couldn't spell it) than her husband would have. The fact that it is longer and more specific than Kusc makes me suspect that is HER version of the name, therefore likely to be more correct. > > Good luck! > Janet