In a message dated 1/29/2003 6:03:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] (Julie G) writes: > I have two questions. 1) Is the name Jacob in America the same as Jakob in > Switzerland? I believe that I found him and other generations, but the > name has been changed. Any ideas on how to be sure they are the same > person? and 2) The LDS Family Search web site lists them as being from > "Rapperswil, Bern, Switzerland" I can't seem to find a Rapperswil, does it > have a different name now? Hello Julie: Very frequently those baptized Jakob in German-speaking countries were known as Jacob in America. You can find Rapperswil on the map at maps.expedia.com or other on-line map service. The spelling of the town name hasn't changed. Some surname changes were obvious, for example Muller (u umlaut) to Mueller or Miller, or Ries to Reese in America. Others may not be this obvious, so you might want to look for other sources recording a name change. However, to be sure you have found the right family, you should start with the information about the person you are certain is your ancestor, which hopefully will include a date of birth and parents names. Then look at the Rapperswil LDS films for that person's birth and the names of his parents. If that info agrees, you can continue the search back in time. If you only have, for example, a year of birth, but no parents names, the research is a little more difficult. If the surname was an uncommon name in a small town, and you find the birth year of Jacob which agrees with your info, you may have found the correct person, but that is a decision you will have to make. If the surname was a fairly common name, you have to be even more careful, because there is always possible that there was more than one family with the same name living in a town, who had sons born the same year and given the same name. Even though the families might be related, you could end up tracing a different branch of the family. If you have only limited information about Jakob, you might have to make some "educated guesses" about his lineage, which can be dangerous from a genealogical standpoint. However, as I mentioned, this is your decision. I am sure others on the list will be able to offer additional suggestions, but I hope this has helped somewhat. Paul C. Miller