Hi! Yes, it was very common for Germans to give various names and to 'go by' the one closest to the last name. It can really get ya when you are looking for legal documents such as wills because those may be indexed by the (unknown, unused) first name. It was (and is) common for immigrants whose native tongue was not English to anglicize their name so their neighbors and friends could remember and pronounce it. And to feel more like an American, perhaps. I have a Vietnamese friend named Paulette. Other Vietnamese often ask her what her Vietnamese first name is, assuming she has Americanized her name. She gets a little irritated as her given name IS Paulette. This would, I believe, mark her as from an upper class and "Frenchified" Vietnamese family. So in her case Paulette is a Vietnamese first name. Every county has it's name issues <grin>. Linda Merle ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: RLSchind58@aol.com Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 12:59:54 EST > >In a message dated 12/3/2005 6:04:27 PM Eastern Standard Time, >ginia2@san.rr.com writes: > >In an on-line search, I have been unable to confirm this naming pattern, but >in actual research I have come across families where every son was given the > >same first name - e.g. "Johann", but was always known by his middle name. >The same for daughters, where "Maria" seems to have been a favorite. My >late husband's immigrant ancestor was Johann Antony or Antonius Beck. He >anglicized his name and was known in America as Anthony. Has anyone else >heard of this custom? If so, was it restricted to Germany? > > > >While I cannot confirm if it was restricted to Germany, my father's German >(Emrick) side, seemed to conform to this naming pattern. They used John as >the first name, but went by their middle names. Therefore, if you don't know >their middle name, it makes it hard to do research. > >My Scotch-Irish side followed the Irish naming patterns fairly closely as >well. > > ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the WebMail system at mail.fea.net