Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning. If a German moved onto someone else's farm estate (or Hof), it was not uncommon to change his last name to that of the farm. If you are researching ancestors (family) it is possible that your family records are referring to this area. Ammendorf family. The acronyms are noted because you won't find the translations for these names in standard online translators or even most German dictionaries. Extra care needs to be taken to make sure that the correct people are included in the family group and that no one is accidentally overlooked. If major changes occur in the naming patterns or form used, that could indicate a ministerial change, perhaps one coming from another area. The following online source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English: Many given names have variants and dialectical forms. For People Proud of their German Heritage, Interesting German historical and cultural facts, Here are some of my thoughts regarding genealogy and family names in northeast East Prussia (Ostpreussen) and Memel. Or maybe there are too many villages with the same name to pin down your ancestorslike how theres a Springfield in nearly every US state. ManyRoads' work and material is licensed under a: Its thought that this system dates back to the time of Charlemagne. My thoughts regarding genealogy and family names in EastPrussia, When the ravens cease to fly around the mountain he will awake and restore Germany to its ancient greatness. For example, Hans Petersen was a son of a man named Peter. Other record groups havent survived the regions tumultuous 20th century. A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father. In many cases, the first reference to Prussian ancestry that you see will be from an American record. List of Bavarian noble families. Teutonic Knights and their descendants, the Baltic Germans, prospered for 700 years in north eastern Europe. 2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. (For more see Wikipedia). Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940. 24), and Schmid (No. PVF was established to research and preserve the culture, genealogy and history of the Pomeranian people who came to the territory of Wisconsin and founded Freistadt in 1839. Prussia : 1790 : 1867 Anderson : Hordaland : Norway . The third most popular last name is Meier (which derives from a term for a high-ranking farmer) and is very common in the low Geman-speaking areas. East Prussia (Ostpreuen) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 to 1945. However, an attitude adjustment will help you solve your Prussia problems. This is especially true for Westfalen (Westphalia) and Hannover and parts of Rheinland and Schlesien (Silesia). For most, naturalization was a two-step process that required a declaration of intent followed by a petition for naturalization. Prussia shaped the history of Germany, with its capital in Berlin after 1451. Within that name held two syllables which both held distinct meanings. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more. all rights reserved. Archion.de and Matricula have growing browsable databases of Protestant and Catholic records, respectively. The 10 Most Common German surnames (with English translations) Becker - baker Fischer - fisherman Hoffmann / Hofmann - courtier or steward Meier or Meyer - manorial landlord, or later, a self-employed farmer Mller - miller Schmidt - smith Schneider - tailor Schulz - sheriff (medieval) Wagner - wainwright (maker & repairer of wagons) Weber - weaver . Questions varied by census yearand didnt guarantee that the enumerator would follow the proper instructionsbut may still provide some insight: US passenger arrival lists often give birthplace (or place of last residence) data. The Top 100 German Surnames. Here are some of the US records most likely to reveal your Prussian ancestors town of origin. A couple who have identical first and middle names chose to have different surnames when they got married to avoid confusion. What follows is a link to a timeline that enumerates Prussias ascendancy. History of German Names. This List of Bavarian noble families contains all 338 Bavarian aristocratic families named in 1605 by Siebmacher as well as further additions. . A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. Minert has published more than 20 volumes to date, each with an abstract showing origins written in the more commonly used church registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) but also harder-to-find record groups such as membership lists. Some German families used the following pattern for naming children, mostly in areas close to the Netherlands, because this pattern was really a Dutch, not German, custom: Gender and grammar can affect German name endings. While every record of an immigrant, spouse and children has some potential for a specific village name, church records are far and away the most likely to include such information. Schmidt is the most common surname in the central German-speaking and eastern low German-speaking areas. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Prussian census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more. There are 251 census records available for the last name Prussian. Dive into this disappearing state with this overview of Prussian history. The acronyms OHG and MHG stand for Old High German and Middle High German, respectively. in German studies. Fortunately, many US censuses inquired about the respondents place of birth, making them a possible source for your ancestors Prussian origins. Acker. 100 Russian Last Names 1. It was ethnically cleansed of Germans by Poland, the Soviet Union and the allies after World War 2. Jews in Germany followed the custom of using only a given name and the name of the father, such as Isaac, son of Abraham (Isaac ben Abraham). Population-wise, the oblast is thoroughly Russian and Russophone in character, with almost none of the pre-World War II German, Lithuanian (Lietuvininks), Latvian speaking Kursenieki, or Polish population remaining in todays Kaliningrad Oblast. Fishtail. A team led by German genealogy scholar Roger P. Minert continues to compile the valuable book series German Immigrants in American Church Records (Family Roots Publishing). Episode 02- March 2019 So you think your ancestor was Prussian.pdf. Both contain valuable information about origins; make sure you look for both document types. These were then passed down through each generation. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Karamazov If this surname looks familiar, it's likely because of Fyodor Dostoevsk y's infamous novel, The Brothers Karamazov. Find your last name and learn about its meaning and origins. Many Indians have tweeted, saying that that the . Subjects were often reluctant to comply, so several decrees were needed. FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Dukes of Prussia Junker (Prussia) A Althann Ambly des Ayvelles Johann Wilhelm von Archenholz Arco family Arnim family Arz von Wasegg Hans Adolf Erdmann von Auerswald Rudolf von Auerswald B Ballestrem Barnekow family Beissel von Gymnich Bentheim (noble family) Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler 1854. 4. Aachen (German nobility) House of Absberg. German inflation had "peaked" however, he added, predicting it would slow from 5.9 per cent this year to 2.7 per cent next year. This category has the following 14 subcategories, out of 14 total. Sometimes surname spelling variations are based on dialect (a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group) differences. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. Rabideau Henss Family Histories & Genealogy. This was 100% of all the recorded Prussian's in USA. Surnames may also have been translated outright into English, sometimes with a slight twist. This guide goes through the best Prussian genealogy records that may help you pinpoint your ancestors origins. Bttcher German. Nicole Marie Skutelnik and Nicole Marie LaCroce met in 2021 and were . 2. Here are some of my thoughts regarding genealogy and family names in northeast East Prussia (Ostpreussen) and Memel. )Once again excerpting from Wikipedia: The truth is you really need to know to which of these four groups your family belongs or area(s) from which they came, if you are to have any success in finding their evidence/ records. Terms such as modo, vulgo, genannt, and alias indicate this naming practice. For example: Althaus ("old house") Birnbaum ("pear tree") Agnet f German (East Prussian), North Frisian (Archaic), East Frisian (Archaic) East Prussian German, North Frisian and East Frisian variant of Agnes via the variant Agnete. . Gender and grammar can affect German surname endings. Naturalization documents are especially important if your ancestor became a citizen (which you can determine by examining federal censuses). (US civil vital records, too, might have specific place names, but this is less likely.). The endings -s or -es show possession. "The Top 100 German Surnames." Count of Family Names in the 1776 Census Count of Family Names in the 1776 Census Compiled by Glenn Penner (gpenner@uoguelph.ca) The following table is a count of how many times each family name, or variation of that name, appears in the 1776 census of Mennonites in West Prussia. For more parenting tips and tricks, find us on Pinterest: Are you a writer, expert, or influencer? Rudatis German (East Prussian) German last names originate from places and professions inGermany and far beyond, as a list of 100 of the most common German surnames shows. Likewise, early German censuses were thrown away, though some remain in local government archives. United States (US) Wisconsin (WI) Prairie du Sac/Sumpter Twp. You can see how Prussian families moved over time by selecting different census years. 26). Prussia/Preuen was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Find a Grave has become the leading site showing memorial information, but there are still many offline sources such as marker transcripts in county historical and genealogical libraries. You also wont want to miss the Germany-based supersite CompGen, which hosts research-aid primers for all of the former Prussian provinces, a historic gazetteer (GOV), and links to many regional groups. (All vestages of German government and control were removed following WW2. German Names from Rottweil, Baden-Wrttemberg, 1441, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael Names of 1350 men and women, with a partial list of surnames. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. German given names are often derived from, If an elder child died young, the parents frequently, Some children received as many as four or more given names at baptism. Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Initially, they were mainly a way of distinguishing between people more easily and as settlements grew into villages, and later towns and cities, descriptions of professions such as tailor, miller and cobbler/shoemaker were attached to peoples first names using the Latin word dictus (called) e.g. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations. The terms meaning differed greatly during the half-millennium in which the Hohenzollern family wielded power in Central Europe, many of its members crowned Kings of Prussia.. Most Popular German Last Names on Family Education: Abbas, Altergott, Adler. John became John the smith, John the son of Matthew, John the short, or John from Heidelberg. For example, your great-grandfather's name could be in Latin on his birth record, in French on his marriage record, and in German on his death record. Derived from the name of the region of Brabant in the Netherlands and Belgium. The problem was usually solved by adding descriptive information. Bauer, Ingrid. Most Jews did not adopt hereditary family names until required to do so by law. This is closely followed by Schmidt (which is associated with the blacksmiths trade and can also be recognized in variations such as Schmitt or Schmitz). Understanding customs used in German names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Abram. Our team is comprised of parents, experts, and content professionals dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and relevant information in the parenting space. Contact. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company. House of Alvensleben. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed. Althann. A small collection of women's given names from Arnsburg, in Hessen. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-last-names-1444607. Notice that there is no apostrophe. Merrow. If you are researching ancestors (family) in the US, it is unlikely that your family records are referring to this relationship or ethnic group membership. Aalbers Abela Abele Abeles Abrahamsen Achen Achter Achter Achterberg Acker Ackerman Addicks Adriance Akerman Akkerman Al Alberda Albers Alderink Alders Ale Alers Alkema Alles Alper Alsteen Ameling Amerman Amster Andries To give just two examples: Even once you have a town name, you might not be able to simply type it into Google and locate it on a modern map of Germany. By the 1820s, most small German states had extended civil rights to Jews and required them to adopt surnames. Part of a German's first name(s) could come from. Minnesota had the highest population of Prussian families in 1880. In 1790, Baden was the first German state to require fixed surnames. (For more see Wikipedia). The capital city was Knigsberg. The use of patronymics continued until decrees were passed that required persons to adopt permanent hereditary family names. This is a patronymic name derived from the reduced form of the name 'Abraham' that means 'father of a multitude.'. Preu (Preuss) Sachse Others were based on place names: Hans from Nrnberg might be called Hans Nrnberger. Trace your ancestry in Prussia, Bavaria and more with our guide to research in Germanys historical regions, What is Prussia? the "eit" at the end of their Surnames. About Us. It is worth noting that in US Census records this term rarely appears after 1871, the year of the creation of the Second Reich- Germany. Between 1972 and 2002, in the United States, Prussian life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1986, and highest in 1991. Pages in category "German-language surnames" The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 4,357 total. What does it mean when a record(s) says that your family member was Prussian? Some given names are often very different when translated into different languages, as shown by the following table. Hans dictus Krier (Hans who is called a soldier.). Some records preface names with occupations, and the occupation may erroneously be indexed as a given name. (see below). And they are: During the 13th century, the Old Prussians were conquered by the Teutonic Knights, and gradually assimilated over the following centuries. Your support, through donation or affiliate useage, allows ManyRoads to remain online. The following is a screenshot of the full list of current last names available: We will continue to make additional updates to the available last name pool . She has a teaching degree and an M.A. Though its home page is in German, the site has an English-language interface called Genealogy.net. Several books are available that list variant forms of given names. This page has been viewed 166,064 times (14,599 via redirect). Prussia was effectively abolished in 1932, and officially abolished in 1947. But many of these families had a common denominator. (Kevan Hansens Map Guide to German Parish Registers series, found in many libraries that have German collections, can also give this information.). It contains information about name variants, ancestry, extent and well-known personalities of the line. In Germany, these occupational names still form the largest group of German surnames. Ill walk you through three steps to tracing your Prussian ancestors. In November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power. Seafarer. These names include: Applebaum apple tree; Birnbaum pear tree; Buchsbaum box tree; Kestenbaum chestnut tree; Kirschenbaum cherry tree; Mandelbaum almond tree; Nussbaum nut tree;. Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as John. German Last Names and Their Meanings You can find large collections of ethnic German-American congregational registers on the free FamilySearch as well as major subscription sites Ancestry.com and MyHeritage. An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Prussian ancestors lived in harsh conditions. The Celts populated Europe and England until conquered and assimilated by Germanic peoples, The First Reich, or first German Empire, lasted 1000 years, succeeded by the Second Reich in 1871, The 1871 map of Germany shows Prussia at the height of its power, The city of Breslau in Silesia has a long German history, but it is no longer part of Germany, The first practical refrigerator was invented in Germany in 1873. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Life in the Past Lane Podcast! Apply this search to the main name collection, the letters in the pattern are compared to the letters in the name, search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes, this field understands simple boolean logic, force a term to be included by preceding it with a, force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a, sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations, syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations, names without pronunciations are excluded from results. At first surnames applied only to one person, not to the whole family. Home. Sebastian = Bastian Christophel = Stophel Christina = Stin or Stina Katharina = Trin Note that these familiar forms are used in church or other records, even though by today's standards we might expect formal names to be used. Germanized form of a Slavic or Old Prussian name formed with lub- 'love', 'dear' (see Luba ). Prussian civil registration dates to 1874 in most places, and (for the most part) are kept in the civil registry office (Standesamt) where the event occurred. Germany (GER) For example, Hansel and Gretel for Johan and Margret. The average life expectancy for Prussian in 1972 was 71, and 82 in 2002. They include Schneider (tailor), Fischer (fisherman) and Weber (weaver). The historical state, political entity, of Prussia (English)/ Preuen (German)- see the blue map on the right.Again quoting from Wikipedia: East Prussia (English)/ Ostpreuen (German), was a political subdivision/ province in the nation-states of Prussia and Germany. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure. Few of the latter are on the following list, but examples include Brinkmann, Berger, and Frank. The list is an alphabetical overview of Bavarian nobility. Agnesia f German (East Prussian, Rare), German (Bessarabian), Medieval Italian Latinization of Agnes and Agnese. East Prussia was the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. For example, the Schleswig-Holstein Rootdigger group has more than 100,000 emigrants documented, while the website Ahnenforschung im InternetRaum Rheine has hundreds of emigrant names from the Rhineland. Ingrid Bauer, who is fluent in German, has been teaching and tutoring the German language since 1996. A daughter Maria might be either Maria Hansen or Maria Hansdotter. Compiled by subject specialists at the Library of Congress, this guide provides print and online resources for researching the genealogy of German families in the U.S., along with key national, state and local histories. It is being seen as mocking India as the country overtakes China to become the world's most populous nation. Given that Prussia (the country) covered as much as ~135,000 square miles with a population of nearly 40 million people; names and dates are not enough to go on for a successful genealogical search. East Prussian German (and thus heavily Lithuanian influenced) surname derived from Lithuanian puaite " (young) pine tree", which - allegedly - used to be a term of endearment for a young girl. 2 Der Spiegel is a weekly news magazine. In addition to the individual volumes, which you can find in libraries that have substantial German genealogy collections, Minert has created a set of consolidated indexes to the first 14 volumes, which you can find in libraries with large German collections. Some of these collections are also on Ancestry.com and MyHeritage, since the two companies helped fund some of FamilySearchs digitization projects. Many things are said to be a state of mind. For genealogists seeking 19th- and early 20th-century ancestry in what was then the largest German Empire state of Prussia, Prussian is a kind of a state of mind. But for the many Prussians who left via the port of Hamburg, embarkation lists show even more detailed information. Barbara, for example, can appear as Barbel, Barbele, Barbeli, Brbel, Brbelchen, Brmel, Bbi, or even Wawerl or Wetti. The Prussian family name was found in the USA between 1880 and 1920. Once youve found your ancestral town of origin and located it on a map, you can consult a few different resources for Prussian records. Ambly des Ayvelles. In January 1871 Germany became a unified country. One such group. Get unlimited access to premium articles. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names. Or, at least, a record might identify a Provinz (province; plural is Provinzen) to narrow down the search to a particular area of Prussia. Ackermann. These embarkation lists (as well as handwritten indexes for them that might be needed as a workaround for bad handwriting) are available on Ancestry.com. Frisian names are used in Friesland in East and North Frisia in northwestern Germany. View Census Data for Prussian | Data not to scale. "The Top 100 German Surnames." *We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs. Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. For example, one branch of the Schwarzenbach(er) family adopted the surname Blackcreek, later Blackrick. First Trimester To-Do List: Take Care of Yourself. Browse profiles of historical people with the Prussian last name, This page needs Javascript enabled in order to work properly. The former German state of Prussia took its name from the Baltic Prussians, although it was led by Germans who had assimilated the Old Prussians; the old Prussian language was extinct by the 17th or early 18th century.The land of the Old Prussians consisted approximately of central and southern East Prussia the present-day Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia and the southern Region of Lithuania. Many of these professions no longer exist but survive in naming traditions. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For instance, Schmidt, which is ranked No. The following 110 pages are in this category, out of 110 total. 1854. For researchers with German ancestry, the word Prussia can be a stumperand the fact that theres no such political unit with that name in present-day Europe is just the conundrums starting point. Rudat German (East Prussian) Variant of Rudatis. The most Prussian families were found in USA in 1920. The cousin who came over with his family at the same time chose to use "Black". For example, the surname Meyer means dairy farmer today, whereas, during the Middle Ages, Meyer designated people who were stewards of landholders. Prior to 1900, formal surname changes documented in local court records are relatively rare. Should you wish to learn more about Prussia and its history, ManyRoads offers extensive texts as well as maps on Historical Germany and Europe. The more clues you can unearth the better. This page was last edited on 29 December 2022, at 15:19. Baptismal Sponsors In German-speaking areas, children were almost always named for one or more of their baptismal sponsors. For each Germanic surname in this glossary, we have provided the English meaning, which may or may not be a surname in English. The former German state of Prussia took its name from the Baltic Prussians, although it was led by Germans who had assimilated the Old Prussians; the old Prussian language was extinct by the 17th or early 18th century.The land of the Old Prussians consisted approximately of central and southern East Prussia - the present-day Warmian-Masurian Bauer, Ingrid. Be aware that as people moved, this might change their surname, and it may revert back and forth within the same records. Ancestry.com has a collection of these records: Eastern Prussian Provinces, Germany [Poland], Selected Civil Vitals, 18741945.. Most of them originated in mediaeval towns and villages, and as each one had its Carter, Hayward, Thatcher, Smith, and Tailor there were a multitude of original bearers of the name. Although it is not obvious today, Prussia was once one of the worlds great powers. In 1871, German states united in creating the German Empire under Prussian leadership. Occupational Names [edit | edit source]. Once you have some more direction about your ancestors province, consult resources created by individual societies and genealogy groups about Prussians who came from a particular region. To get a quick, pictorial view of the growth of the Nation State of Prussia (it was correctly called Knigreich Preuen- Kingdom of Prussia) what follows below is a set of maps show the nations evolution: West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773-1824 and 1878-1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish fiefdom of Royal Prussia. This is an Ashkenazi Jewish last name of German or Old English origins with the meaning 'plowed field.'. Examples: Feuerstein= Firestone, Schwarzenbach (er) = Blackcreek [which evolved into "Blackrick" and other phonetic spellings], or simply "Black". Many people there had German ancestors who emigrated from Saltzburg and a variety of other German cities and states. The online version of MeyersGaz includes the original gazetteers detailed information on each town, then supplements it with interactive modern-day and historical map overlays. Click. ThoughtCo. How Continue reading This topic comes up frequently and seems to cause a lot of confusion, especially here in the US. When you face one of these problems, your first stop should be the Meyers Gazetteer, the leading geographical dictionary of German lands published in the Second Empire period and available online. There are 18 military records available for the last name Prussian. From 1824-1878, East Prussia was combined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia, after which they were re-established as separate provinces. Bauer, Ingrid. If Hans had a son Jens, the son was known as Jens Hansen (son of Hans). After a few generations, these names became hereditary and were passed on from generation to generation. Use of the ending may result in vowel changes, such as "Hnschen", which is "little Hans". Information on our advertising guidelines can be found. A version of this article appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of Family Tree Magazine. The Family History Library has large volumes of microfilm containing births, marriages and deaths from historical Prussia. Prussian genealogy research isnt always easy. Alber (name) Albin (surname) Albrecht; Albrich; Alemann; Allerstorfer; Allmayer; Allram; Alms (disambiguation) Alpenheim; Alscher; Alt (surname) Alterman; Altermann; Altmaier (surname) Altmann (surname) Because of this, German last names can be found throughout bordering countries, including Poland, Austria, Franceand Spain. During the early 20th Century, especially the World War I era, surname changes are recorded more frequently, as immigrants or, more often, their children, tried to adopt more neutral surnames. In addition to church records, tombstones (often more detailed in earlier eras than they are today) will sometimes have villages of origin carved on them. If doing ancestry searches, you should be aware that in some areas of Germany, such as Westfalen, Hannover, Lippe-Detmold, Oldenburg and Schlesien, there are exceptions to the rule which make research more complicated. German Eaglessingle head 640 years, double-headed 366 years, then single head ever since 1871. Most German surnames derive either from archaic professions (such as Schmidt, Mller, Weber, or Schfer) or places. When names first came about in German history, people tended to only have one name.
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