Funny these ideas. I for my part prefer the thought of a "name of origin". Often people were called after the city/township they came from. And - oh what a great surprise - there is a LETTER near Hannover in LowerSaxony. Perhaps it may be ??? Greetings from Germany Angelika

Hello, Angelika, I had not known that there was a town in Germany named LETTER. I will have to look for it. My great-greatgrandparents, John and Christina Hemmer Letter, were born in Rellinghausen, according to the records of their parish church in Belleville, IL. That is quite near Essen, I think. That is interesting information about surnames that reflect the place of origin. We lived in Stavanger, Norway during the 1980's, and the Norwegians also have this naming pattern. In the US, we tend to name towns after the people who first settled them -- but then, we are a much younger country. If you have any connections to the US that you are trying to trace, I would be pleased to try to help you. I have access to ancestry.com and another large database called Heritage Quest, for searching the US censuses. When we lived in Norway, my husband went often to Essen on business. Unfortunately, I wasn't interested in family history/genealogy back then, and so I wasted a golden opportunity! Jane, in Fredericksburg, TX -- a town that celebrates its German heritage

Dear List: Even though I've lurked for a few weeks, I'm so impressed with the helpfulness and depth of collective knowledge and experience of this group. I, too, have a name that is a real challenge (Lederhos and variations). At least I have the town/region of origin in Prussia - Bad Kreuznach - and approximate dates of birth of my 3rd GF and GM (per St Louis census). My son plans on being in Frankfurt in about two weeks so I've convinced him that at the very least he should drive down and check out the town/area for me. With such little info from my research, he can't do any research while there, but... hope springs eternal! Meanwhile, I keep digging through Ancestry, Heritage Quest, and the FHL library for clues. Jacquie (who's sure she's of pure German ancestry - living in a town saturated with its Norwegian heritage - to the nth degree)