My ancestor was Fridolin, and once in US became FRED....I would think that quite possible taking the German Gotfried and Americanizing it to FRED...but not a german nickname. -- Nancy Bommer / Sr. Art Director/Resource / nbommer@resource.com Columbus, OHIO On Monday, March 20, 2000, Lyle G. Hartman <lghart@ix.netcom.com> wrote: On 20 Mar 2000 Nancy Helvey <nlh@rmci.net> wrote: > Perhaps one of you German speakers can tell me if "Fred" is a nickname > for Gottfried. I know that it applies for Friedrich. > > Thanks, > Nancy Helvey > The English translation by Edda gentry of Hans Bahlow's "Deutsches Namenlexikon" (Dictionary of German Names) gives "Gotte" and the even shorter form "Gott" as Upper German short forms of Gottfried. I do not believe it would be Fred. I have seen one instance where the German Christian name Gottfried became Godfrey in the U.S. My Swiss relative Gottlieb Schild is sometimes called by the nickname "Goti". Lyle G. Hartman Landenberg, Pennsylvania ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== Support RootsWeb! Help provide FREE genealogical resources on the Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html

Hi List, Thanks for the thoughts about Fred being a nickname for Gottfried. I have an ancestor named Fred Frey who was born in 1820 in either Switzerland or Germany. He married Magdalena Gerber Althaus in 1855 or 56 in Wyandot Co. OH. I have wondered if he decided to "Americanize" his first name from a name such as Gottfried. I have been searching for Friedrich Frey and no luck so far. Of course, it is always possible that his name could be Gottfried Friedrich Frey. I found a Gottfried Frey as a passenger aboard the SS BORUSSIA that left Hamburg and arrived in New York in 1856. Gottfried's occupation is listed as "smith" and this certainly fits the description of Fred Frey whom I know to have been a blacksmith. Thanks for the clue-- Fridolin. I haven't seen this so far in my search, however. Nancy Helvey