Some given names are often very different when translated into different languages, as shown by the following table. By the 1820s, most small German states had extended civil rights to Jews and required them to adopt surnames. History of German Names. List of Bavarian noble families - Wikipedia But with the right attitude, dedication, and tools, you can find your ancestors who lived within the limits of the former kingdom. Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940. Ancestry.com has a collection of these records: Eastern Prussian Provinces, Germany [Poland], Selected Civil Vitals, 18741945.. all rights reserved. Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning. With this list of German last names, discover the origin of your surname and how your ancestors made it come to life. The Family History Library has large volumes of microfilm containing births, marriages and deaths from historical Prussia. Few of the latter are on the following list, but examples include Brinkmann, Berger, and Frank. 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. Alber (name) Albin (surname) Albrecht; Albrich; Alemann; Allerstorfer; Allmayer; Allram; Alms (disambiguation) Alpenheim; Alscher; Alt (surname) Alterman; Altermann; Altmaier (surname) Altmann (surname) Most German surnames derive either from archaic professions (such as Schmidt, Mller, Weber, or Schfer) or places. What are the most popular Dutch surnames? Naturalization documents are especially important if your ancestor became a citizen (which you can determine by examining federal censuses). Understanding customs used in German names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Teutonic Knights and their descendants, the Baltic Germans, prospered for 700 years in north eastern Europe. (2023, April 5). In some areas of Germany, individuals took a second surname from the name of a farm.. The acronyms OHG and MHG stand for Old High German and Middle High German, respectively. Where is Pomerania? The following online source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English: Many given names have variants and dialectical forms. *We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs. 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. The profile for each town name includes both German- and Polish-language place names, as well as what districts and parishes the villages belonged to. Surnames may also have been translated outright into English, sometimes with a slight twist. List of Bavarian noble families. A daughter Maria might be either Maria Hansen or Maria Hansdotter. Minnesota had the highest population of Prussian families in 1880. Agnesia f German (East Prussian, Rare), German (Bessarabian), Medieval Italian Latinization of Agnes and Agnese. Rabideau Henss Family Histories & Genealogy. 4. Derived from the name of the region of Brabant in the Netherlands and Belgium. Ambly des Ayvelles. Several books are available that list variant forms of given names. Perhaps, the following explanations and links will help clarify the matter.To begin with you need to be aware that there are, at least, four major categories or groups of people with clear and justifiable claims to being Prussian. Barbara, for example, can appear as Barbel, Barbele, Barbeli, Brbel, Brbelchen, Brmel, Bbi, or even Wawerl or Wetti. 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 . The average life expectancy for Prussian in 1972 was 71, and 82 in 2002. Saxony Bauer, Ingrid. Multiple given names were often the names of, Germans occasionally use "-chen" and "-lein" as diminutive endings meaning little. Gretchen could be translated little Greta (Margret). Der Spiegel: India anger over 'racist' German magazine cartoon on 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. 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. Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as John. Prussian genealogy research isnt always easy. For instance, Schmidt, which is ranked No. Aachen (German nobility) House of Absberg. Baptismal Sponsors In German-speaking areas, children were almost always named for one or more of their baptismal sponsors. How Continue reading 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. The cousin who came over with his family at the same time chose to use "Black". Examples: Feuerstein= Firestone, Schwarzenbach (er) = Blackcreek [which evolved into "Blackrick" and other phonetic spellings], or simply "Black". What follows is a link to a timeline that enumerates Prussias ascendancy. (US civil vital records, too, might have specific place names, but this is less likely.). Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The list is an alphabetical overview of Bavarian nobility. Germany (GER) German (East Prussian) Submitted Surnames - Behind the Name For example, one branch of the Schwarzenbach(er) family adopted the surname Blackcreek, later Blackrick. 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. A Complete List of German Last Names + Meanings Derived from a diminutive of the given name Sebastian. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found. Names that were comprised of syllables with the . Pommerscher Verein groups were formed by descendants of emigrants from the Prussian province of Pomerania. Many of the modern surnames in the dictionary can be traced back to Britain and Ireland. However, an "attitude adjustment" will help you solve your Prussia problems. This topic comes up frequently and seems to cause a lot of confusion, especially here in the US. A version of this article appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of Family Tree Magazine. (Hans itself is a familiar variant of Johan.). There are 51 immigration records available for the last name Prussian. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Prussia shaped the history of Germany, with its capital in Berlin after 1451. FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 3. This writer is a part of the FamilyEducation editorial team. 400+ Popular German Last Names | Thought Catalog For example, the surname Meyer means dairy farmer today, whereas, during the Middle Ages, Meyer designated people who were stewards of landholders. Pommerscher Verein Freistadt - Surname Research German Names from 1495, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael About a hundred masculine and feminine given names collected from an Germany Personal Names FamilySearch So you think your ancestor was Prussian - ManyRoads Married couple choose not to have same surname - because their first 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. Ammendorf family. These were then passed down through each generation. German Origins in the United States: A Guide to Local History and Some US records may yield the gold standard of immigrant genealogy research: an exact village of origin. 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. 2. German immigrants may have been grouped together as the overly broad term Prussians. The misleading label may believe their actual identities: Pomeranians, Rhinelanders, Hanoverians and more. One such group. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. View Census Data for Prussian | Data not to scale. As the population increased, it became necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same name. This category has the following 14 subcategories, out of 14 total. 100% of Prussian men worked as a Laborer. Home. 2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Other examples include names such as: Bamberger Bielfeld Erfurt Fischbeck Oldenburg Still others described the location where the person lived. Prussia/Preuen was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed. in German studies. Althann. 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. 1854. These decrees were passed in 1771, 1820, and 1822 in the province of Schleswig-Holstein and in 1811 in Ostfriesland. But many of these families had a common denominator. Rostova Leo Tolstoy 's War and Peace. This was 100% of all the recorded Prussian's in USA. 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. Prussian Name Meaning & Prussian Family History at Ancestry.com However, an attitude adjustment will help you solve your Prussia problems. Our team is comprised of parents, experts, and content professionals dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and relevant information in the parenting space. Occupational name meaning "cooper, barrel maker" in German. The use of patronymic names was prevalent in the Schleswig-Holstein and Ostfriesland areas in northern Germany. . Many of these have been digitized and indexed; look at FamilySearchs list of collections to see whats available for Prussia or the modern German/Polish state your ancestors town of origin is in. Even after 1871, Germany's land area and political influence shifted several times. Because many of the Prussian areas were either destroyed (nearly completely) in the allied bombardments and assaults of WW2 and most Prussian areas were ethnically cleansed of 99+% of all native German speakers between 1945 and 1950, even tiny clues are most important. If Hans had a son Jens, the son was known as Jens Hansen (son of Hans). 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. (For more see Wikipedia). It possibly means "ploughed region" or "marshy region" in Old High German. Bauer, Ingrid. England Surnames Derived from Occupations, Ranks - International . "Old French Records", at "BYU Script Tutorial", Last edited on 29 December 2022, at 15:19. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/german-last-names-1444607. Dive into this disappearing state with this overview of Prussian history. 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. 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). 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. How to Research Your Prussian Ancestors - Family Tree Magazine Its thought that this system dates back to the time of Charlemagne. 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 Most military records, for example, were unfortunately destroyed in WWII bombing (though documents from independent Hanover have survived). The use of patronymics continued until decrees were passed that required persons to adopt permanent hereditary family names. 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. Category:Prussian nobility - Wikipedia They include Schneider (tailor), Fischer (fisherman) and Weber (weaver). 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. This gazetteer can be helpful in determining which Catholic and Protestant parishes a village belonged toinformation not found in the Meyers Gazetteer. 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. is only allowed with prior ManyRoads' approval, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Deutsche Vertriebenen German Expulsions (History), Flucht und Verteibung Flight & Expulsion (Videos), Dictionnaire Genealogique des Familles Canadiennes- Cyprien Tanguay, Preuen in der Vergangenheit Prussia in the Past (Videos), Robidou Association of North America (Rescue), Genealogy Databases and Immigrant Websites, Immigration from Germany to Eastern Europe (Ostsiedlung), On-line Prussian, Ukrainian, Russian Mennonite Records, 400+ Years of Mennonite-Anabaptist European Emigration, Researching Mennonite Regions of Damals Preuen (former Prussia), Locating German WW1 & WW2 War Casualties & Prisoners, Researching the Eastern European German Diaspora, Jdische Familienforschung (Jewish Genealogy), [] Population Development across Eastern Prussia, To do so, please follow these instructions, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Until then, it was made up of smaller nation-states whose borders frequently changed. In many areas of Germany there is a widespread use of "Hofnamen" or "farm names" used. Bauer, Ingrid. Prior to 1900, formal surname changes documented in local court records are relatively rare. Some areas of Germany may use diminutive forms of names more than others. 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. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names. A small collection of women's given names from Arnsburg, in Hessen. 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. 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 Prussia was effectively abolished in 1932, and officially abolished in 1947. From 1772-1829 and 1878-1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. 100 Russian Last Names 1. 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. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-last-names-1444607. Most Popular German Last Names on Family Education: Abbas, Altergott, Adler. Part of a German's first name(s) could come from. In January 1871 Germany became a unified country. Compulsory surname laws were enacted in the German states of Bayern and Mecklenburg in 1813 and 1814. Prussian Submitted Surnames - Behind the Name Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair). 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. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. Ashkenazi names: The etymology of the most common Jewish surnames. German Surnames - Behind the Name Do not sell or share my personal information. Rudatis German (East Prussian) Many people there had German ancestors who emigrated from Saltzburg and a variety of other German cities and states. After a few generations, these names became hereditary and were passed on from generation to generation. Within that name held two syllables which both held distinct meanings. 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. Three suffixes which often indicate a German occupational name are: -er (one who), commonly found in names such as Fischer, one who fishes; -hauer (hewer or cutter), used in names such as Baumhauer, tree chopper; and -macher (one who makes), found in names like Schumacher, one who makes shoes. As the various provinces and duchies of German fell under the rule of different countries, the language used in records could change. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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. the "eit" at the end of their Surnames. German Last Names and Their Meanings But many of these families had a common denominator the eit at the end of their Surnames. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Prussian surname lived. 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. Germanized form of a Slavic or Old Prussian name formed with lub- 'love', 'dear' (see Luba ). Sign up for the Family Tree Newsletter Plus, you'll receive our 10 Essential Genealogy Research Forms PDF as a special thank you! Both contain valuable information about origins; make sure you look for both document types. Abram. Christopher I, Burgrave and Count of Dohna-Schlodien, Countess Katharina Dorothea Finck von Finckenstein, Friedrich Heinrich Ferdinand Leopold von Forcade de Biaix, Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Ernst Heinrich von Forcade de Biaix, Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix, Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Konstantin Quirin Freiherr von Forcade de Biaix, Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske, Friedrich Albrecht Karl Herrmann, Reichsgraf von Wylich und Lottum, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Prussian_nobility&oldid=1107202751, Template Category TOC via CatAutoTOC on category with 101200 pages, CatAutoTOC generates standard Category TOC, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 August 2022, at 18:51. A couple who have identical first and middle names chose to have different surnames when they got married to avoid confusion. 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. Some local groups are transcribing them, but youll need to write to the office to get records from most places. Prussian Name Meaning Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair). 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Accola. The territory was included within Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia from 1939-45. Your support, through donation or affiliate useage, allows ManyRoads to remain online. There are 251 census records available for the last name Prussian. 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. 2, also appears as Schmitt (No. An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Prussian ancestors lived in harsh conditions. Episode 02- March 2019 So you think your ancestor was Prussian.pdf. Bsch 1 German. Surnames developed from several sources. Most Jews did not adopt hereditary family names until required to do so by law. And they are: During the 13th century, the Old Prussians were conquered by the Teutonic Knights, and gradually assimilated over the following centuries.

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