This is an A-Z dictionary of German-American names with the spellings, meanings, and variants of about 15,000 names. The lengthy introduction discusses the development of German names, name sources, name variations, and some of the special characteristics of German-American names. Here is explained the meanings of names borne today by Americans which derive from the German language or its dialects. It also deals with the Americanization of some of these names, explaining the social and historical matters that contributed to the distinctive character of German-American names. And it deals as well with names many of us would never have thought of as German. The vast amount of information on German-American names in this work is unequaled in any other book on this subject. This second edition is fifty pages longer than the previous edition and has several thousand more entries.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Most of us are curious about the meaning of our names. For those with names of German origin, this dictionary will satisfy that curiosity. There is a 60-page introduction that explains where German names came from and tells how to use the dictionary. The author's discussion of the Americanization of German immigrants' names fills a gap in the current literature. Few authors have succeeded in making this topic as simple and entertaining as Jones has. It is the best treatment of the subject in English. Medium and large public and academic libraries will want this in their reference sections. Special libraries serving genealogists will find it a necessity.
- Raymond S. Wright III, Family History Lib., Salt Lake City
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Raymond S. Wright III, Family History Lib., Salt Lake City
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very interesting resource,
By Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: German-American Names (Paperback)
This wonderful little book is the product of Dr. George Fenwick Jones's lifelong interest in German names. The beginning of the book is a history of German names, including what happened to them in America. After that, the book goes into a lengthy alphabetical list of surnames that points back to appropriate paragraph in the earlier chapters, explaining where it came from.
Overall, I found this to be a very interesting resource. If you are interested in genealogy, or just want to know a little bit about your names, then this is a good book for you to get. I highly recommend it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and interesting explanation of German names and surnames,
By
This review is from: German-American Names (Paperback)
I'm a 6th generation, 100% ancestry German American (both sides of my family) who lives in a region heavily populated with German surnames and Christian names. I found this book by chance in our local library and wow! It opened up the origins of my family names and also made sense of the names of other persons I've known and seen throughout the region all my life. There were surprising revelations to me, such as names that I never thought of as being of German origin or surnames taken from Latin, pre-Germanic/Celtic words and place names, and other languages. This book was fun just to skip through, but the introduction is worth reading if one has more time. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in your roots or just enjoy knowing where names come from and what they mean.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What Was The Origin Of My Name?,
By Overweight and Proud Of It (Springfield, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: German-American Names (Paperback)
Like everyone else, I fantasized that my distant ancestors were noble lords, wise sages, shrewd merchants and so on. However, I have found that while all of the other German surnamed families with familial links to my German surnamed family have some form of an acknowledged coat of arms, my German surname apparently does not. Apparently, my ancestors were the cooks and chefs that kept everyone else well-fed. Oh well, back to putting the icing on the cake.....
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This book cites 2
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3
books
cite this book:
- An Enemy of the People (Penguin Plays) by Arthur Miller on page 3
- An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen on page 3
- Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity by Russell A. Kazal on 4 pages
- Hispanic Surnames and Family History by Lyman D. Platt on page 29, and Back Matter
- In Search of Your European Roots : A Complete Guide to Tracing Your Ancestors by Angus Baxter in Back Matter
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