Some surnames directly reflect the ethnicity or national origin of the bearer. For some reason, these names are especially common in Hungary where names like Tóth, "Slav", Horváth "Croat", Németh "German", Oláh "Vlach or Romanian" and Rácz "Serb or South Slav" are all among the most common surnames.
Although these types of names are not as common in other places, theses names are present in many different regions. This month I will be exploring names of this type in my own family. I will start with my fourth great grandmother Polly Anne Fleming (1823-1907). Both of her parents were born in Massachusetts, but she was born in New York. The family eventually made their way to Lorain County, Ohio, where she married English immigrant and tailor, John Wood. The couple had three children, including my third great grandfather Benjamin Franklin Wood (1847-1986). While her children were still you, her husband died and she remarried soon after. With her children and second husband, Alonzo Stanton, she relocated to Jackson County, Michigan.
All indications point to a British background for the family; they followed a typical migration route for many New Englanders. But the name provides a possibility for another more distant origin for the family. The surname Fleming comes from the Middle Dutch Vlâming, a term for an inhabitant of Flanders (OED). This region extends from the Netherlands to France, with the largest part in modern Belgium. In general its people speak a dialect of Dutch called "Flemish". As one of the closest regions to England in continental Europe, the two places had close political and economic ties. As a result, there was some immigration of Flemings to England. It is possible that my Flemings go back to one of these immigrants
Of course, names can be tricky things and are not by themselves proof of origins. It is possible there is another explanation for the name; maybe the name was given because members of the family had characteristics which were considered stereotypical of the group.
Showing posts with label language: Dutch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language: Dutch. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Language identification challenge (Answers)
All three examples from this week's language identification challenge are taken from records on FamilySearch.
1. Italian - Italy, Caserta, Gricignano d'Aversa, Civil Registration (Comune), 1809-1929
First, the similarities to Latin and French should be pretty clear. We can conclude that it's a Romance language. First, let's compare the words for "year" in a few Romance languages.
2. Dutch - Netherlands, Gelderland Province Civil Registration, 1811-1950
First, the similarities to English and German show that it's a Germanic language. Let's look at word for "year". In many languages, the English Y sound is represented by J.
Danish år
Dutch jaar
English year
Frisian jier
German Jahr
Icelandic ár
Norwegian år
Swedish år
It's Dutch.
3. Portuguese - Portugal, Coimbra, Catholic Church Records, 1459-1911
This is a little tricky. In modern Portuguese "year" is spelled with one N (ano), but in older records you will find it with two Ns (anno). If possible, it is useful to consult an older dictionary like this one available through Google Books. In this case, we go through the same procedure as with Italian. Another good marker of Portuguese is do, which is a combination of the preposition de "of" and the masculine singular article o "the".
1. Italian - Italy, Caserta, Gricignano d'Aversa, Civil Registration (Comune), 1809-1929
First, the similarities to Latin and French should be pretty clear. We can conclude that it's a Romance language. First, let's compare the words for "year" in a few Romance languages.
Catalan anyBased on the forms above, the language is either Italian or Portuguese. Now let's look at the words for "thousand".
French an
Italian anno
Portuguese ano/anno
Romanian an
Spanish año
Italian milleSo, it's Italian.
Portuguese mil
2. Dutch - Netherlands, Gelderland Province Civil Registration, 1811-1950
First, the similarities to English and German show that it's a Germanic language. Let's look at word for "year". In many languages, the English Y sound is represented by J.
Danish år
Dutch jaar
English year
Frisian jier
German Jahr
Icelandic ár
Norwegian år
Swedish år
It's Dutch.
3. Portuguese - Portugal, Coimbra, Catholic Church Records, 1459-1911
This is a little tricky. In modern Portuguese "year" is spelled with one N (ano), but in older records you will find it with two Ns (anno). If possible, it is useful to consult an older dictionary like this one available through Google Books. In this case, we go through the same procedure as with Italian. Another good marker of Portuguese is do, which is a combination of the preposition de "of" and the masculine singular article o "the".
Thursday, March 1, 2012
The little bits, spelling and alphabetization
Not all parts of a name are created equally. Many names include function words like articles and prepositions. For English speakers, this type of formation is somewhat unfamiliar; English names don't include the definite article the or the prepositions of. However, in other languages, surnames that include these words are very common.
Names that begin with function words create a number of difficulties for genealogists due to their often inconsistent treatment. There are three main issues you have to consider.
One or more words? There is a lot of variation in terms of whether the parts remain separate or are written as a single word. The preposition van "of" is characteristic of many Dutch names, including the 8th president of the United States, Martin Van Buren. It originally indicated the place of origin of the bearer of the surname and in Dutch it is left uncapitalized, Vincent van Gogh, literally Vincent of Gogh. In contrast, the Vanderbilt family, a prominent American family of Dutch origin, treats the name as a single word instead of van der Bilt "of de Bilt". You may also find in some cases a compromise where the name is written as a single word, but with internal capitalization, like VanBuren.
Disappearing words. The second issue is that from generation to generation or even record to record the function word may disappear and then reappear. For example, on the marriage record of my 6th great grandfather, Jean Baptiste Blais, his mother is listed as "marie marguerite roi":
However, on her own marriage record from June 13, 1726 in Saint-Vallier, Quebec, she is listed as "margueritte Le Roy":
Both records are available as a part of the Drouin Collection on ancestry.com.
Alphabetization. The final issue is how these words are alphabetized. You will find rules for alphabetization if you consult the MLA style guide or the Chicago Manual of Style, but don't expect these rules to be consistently followed. Be prepared to consider all options. This has been of special relevance to my research into my ancestors in Brittany.
In Lower Brittany names with a definite article are everywhere. My great grandmother, who was born in Nantes, had ancestry split between Lower and Upper Brittany. Her mother's ancestors were all from Lower Brittany, while her father's ancestors were from Upper Brittany. The division between the two parts of Brittany is partially linguistic. In Lower Brittany, Breton, a Celtic language, dominated, while, in Upper Brittany, Gallo and French, Romance languages, were the norm.
This linguistic divide is also reflected in the naming practices. I have 14 different surnames with the definite article Le among my ancestors in Lower Brittany, including Le Bourhis, Le Hiaric, Le Joudec and Le Bacquer. In contrast, I have yet to encounter such a name among my ancestors in Upper Brittany. In indexes from Lower Brittany, such as those from the commune of Plouguernével where many of my ancestors lived, names with an article are typically alphabetized by disregarding the article. For example, the name Le Bourhis is listed under "B" and is written as "Bourhis (le)". However, in indexes in Nantes where many in the family later migrated, the name Le Bourhis is found alphabetized by the letter "L" and is simply listed as "Le Bourhis". This does make some sense. In Plouguernével, because of how common names with the article are, it makes more sense to disregard it to avoid half the names being in the "L" section, but in Nantes where it is less common, this is less important.
In my own records, I generally take these names as a whole and just list the surname as "Le Bourhis". I think this is simpler and less confusing.
Names that begin with function words create a number of difficulties for genealogists due to their often inconsistent treatment. There are three main issues you have to consider.
One or more words? There is a lot of variation in terms of whether the parts remain separate or are written as a single word. The preposition van "of" is characteristic of many Dutch names, including the 8th president of the United States, Martin Van Buren. It originally indicated the place of origin of the bearer of the surname and in Dutch it is left uncapitalized, Vincent van Gogh, literally Vincent of Gogh. In contrast, the Vanderbilt family, a prominent American family of Dutch origin, treats the name as a single word instead of van der Bilt "of de Bilt". You may also find in some cases a compromise where the name is written as a single word, but with internal capitalization, like VanBuren.
Disappearing words. The second issue is that from generation to generation or even record to record the function word may disappear and then reappear. For example, on the marriage record of my 6th great grandfather, Jean Baptiste Blais, his mother is listed as "marie marguerite roi":
However, on her own marriage record from June 13, 1726 in Saint-Vallier, Quebec, she is listed as "margueritte Le Roy":
Both records are available as a part of the Drouin Collection on ancestry.com.
Alphabetization. The final issue is how these words are alphabetized. You will find rules for alphabetization if you consult the MLA style guide or the Chicago Manual of Style, but don't expect these rules to be consistently followed. Be prepared to consider all options. This has been of special relevance to my research into my ancestors in Brittany.
In Lower Brittany names with a definite article are everywhere. My great grandmother, who was born in Nantes, had ancestry split between Lower and Upper Brittany. Her mother's ancestors were all from Lower Brittany, while her father's ancestors were from Upper Brittany. The division between the two parts of Brittany is partially linguistic. In Lower Brittany, Breton, a Celtic language, dominated, while, in Upper Brittany, Gallo and French, Romance languages, were the norm.
This linguistic divide is also reflected in the naming practices. I have 14 different surnames with the definite article Le among my ancestors in Lower Brittany, including Le Bourhis, Le Hiaric, Le Joudec and Le Bacquer. In contrast, I have yet to encounter such a name among my ancestors in Upper Brittany. In indexes from Lower Brittany, such as those from the commune of Plouguernével where many of my ancestors lived, names with an article are typically alphabetized by disregarding the article. For example, the name Le Bourhis is listed under "B" and is written as "Bourhis (le)". However, in indexes in Nantes where many in the family later migrated, the name Le Bourhis is found alphabetized by the letter "L" and is simply listed as "Le Bourhis". This does make some sense. In Plouguernével, because of how common names with the article are, it makes more sense to disregard it to avoid half the names being in the "L" section, but in Nantes where it is less common, this is less important.
In my own records, I generally take these names as a whole and just list the surname as "Le Bourhis". I think this is simpler and less confusing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)