Thanks Jeanie. A great and accurate explanation! Best, Hal McCawley 4178 Pindar Way, Oceanside, CA 92056 760.941.4716 <HalMac@Cox.net> ----- Original Message ----- From: "jeanie stout" <msjbostian@yahoo.com> To: <rowanroots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:31 PM Subject: [ROWANROOTS] Thank you German names > Hi Linda > Thank you for this article. > Its very usefull > Jeanie > > rlmlfm@aol.com wrote: > > For those of you who are researching your German ancestors in Rowan County > or elsewhere, the following information on German naming customs or > patterns may be of some help.? I have copied and pasted the following > information from the following?link:? http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm > > 18th Century PA German Naming Customs > > > At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given > name was a spiritual, saint's name. The second given name was the secular > or call name, i.e., "rufnamen", which is the name the person was known by, > both within the family and to the rest of the world. This custom was > originally adopted in Germanic and other regions in Europe from Roman > Catholic tradition and continued by the Protestants in their baptismal > naming customs. The immigrants from these areas brought the custom with > them to Pennsylvania. > > The spiritual name, usually to honor a favorite saint, was used repeatedly > and was usually given to all the children of that family of the same > gender. Thus the boys would be Johan Adam ...., Johan George ....., etc., > or Philip Peter ...., Philip Jacob ...., etc. Girls would be named Anna > Barbara ...., Anna Margaret ...., etc., or Maria Elizabeth ...., Maria > Catherine ...., etc. But after baptism, these people would not be known as > John, Philip, Anna, or Maria, respectively. They would instead be known by > what we would think of now as their middle name, which was their secular > name. Thus these people would be known respectively as Adam, George, > Peter, Jacob, Barbara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Catherine in legal and > secular records. > > For males, the saint's name Johan or John for Saint John was particularly > heavily used by many German families, but also Saint George was used by > some families for male children. The child's secular name was really John, > if and only if, at baptism he was named only John, usually spelled as > Johannes, with no second given name. The name John spelled as Johannes is > rarely seen spelled as Johannes as a spiritual name, i.e., you rarely will > see the name at baptism recorded as Johannes Adam ....., etc. It is > generally always found spelled as Johan or Johann when used as a spiritual > name. Thus, you find the spiritual name of John recorded as Johan Adam > ..... or Johann Adam ....., not Johannes Adam ..... . > > Many researchers, new to German names, who find a baptism of an individual > with a name such as Johan Adam ....., thus mistakenly spend a lot of time > looking for a John ....., in legal and census records, when he was known > after baptism, to the secular world, as Adam ..... . > > The use of Saint John was the most common example of this custom, but > Saint George was often used too. And thus one would find children in a > family named George Heinrich ......, George Jacob ......, George Frederick > ....., and of course simply George ..... by itself. In these examples the > secular or call names would respectively be Heinrich, Jacob, Frederick, > and George. > > The term "Senior" and "Junior" following a name did not necessarily imply > a father and son relationship, as it does now. It could have been an uncle > and nephew who had the same name and lived near each other. It could be a > grandfather and a grandchild living together, where the father has died. > It could even be two unrelated individuals with the same name but of > different ages who lived near each other. So to help friends and business > associates keep track of who-was-who in their discussions and records, > they added on the "Sr." or "Jr." which merely meant the older and the > younger, respectively. > > Frequently the secular name given to the child was also the same as the > secular given name of one of the baptismal sponsors for the child. Said > baptismal sponsors frequently were close relatives but also could be close > and trusted friends and neighbors. > > > > Linda Monticelli > > > > www.catchattering.blogspot.com > This is a web page of my family history with many old pictures. > If you have a family picture I can add please send it to me. > If you have any more history of this family please share it with me. > I am always adding and editing. I have more pictures to add. > If you know some of the faces in these pictures that are unknown please > write to me. > Jeanie nee Bostian Stout > 190 Hemlock lane > Moravian Falls > NC 28654 > > --------------------------------- > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ROWANROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.12/1245 - Release Date: > 1/26/2008 3:45 PM > >