WHAT'S IN A NAME? (April 2010)
Because I’m writing about the names of some of our grandmothers, it occurred to me that maybe you are wondering how names were given in the past. Outside of the fact that Jrs. have been many in our immediate family, for me, surnames that have been passed on have made my job easier to trace families.
Take for example the March and now the April newsletter. If Rebecca hadn’t given Harry the name of Elson, tracing the family would have been very difficult. The names Free and Crane had already been given to the older boys, namely Charles Free Durland and Oscar Crane Durland. All the family recognizes those names. When Rebecca’s third son, who died at age 9, was born he was given the name George Robert, Robert being the name of his grandfather Durland. How lucky for us the name Elson was next in line and Becky gave birth to another boy. Since there were no females we don’t have to wonder how she and James would have named the girls.
Going back a generation, Mary Ann Crane named her first son William Robert, after his paternal grandparent William and father Robert. It would seem that Mary Ann’s father Obadiah Crane would have rated some mention, but Obadiah left the family for the West so perhaps he was an outcast. Mary Ann’s next son, our immediate grandfather, was called James Youngs. The only James I can find is one of her brothers. However, the Youngs name came from James’ paternal grandmother, Sara Youngs. We lucked out there too. Of the three sons of Robert Durland, only our grandfather James had a family surname unless the youngest son, whose name is Maurice Gould, was named for someone named Gould, not on our side. The three girls were Eliza Ann, Amanda Ellen, and Phoebe Jane.
But history tells us that many of these names only somewhat follow the English naming system so already customs in this new country were beginning to form. In the case of Mary Ann Crane the English naming patterns would have been predominant. Not the Dutch naming conventions because only the name survived, not the nationality. The Dutch naming system is complicated and very different from the English. I think it is safe to say that the Dutch heritage was lost with all the intermarriages with the English, even though the name persisted despite all the changes.
In the case of our German grandfather John Schueneman, his first name was really Lambert, which shows up on his baptismal certificate, but there is nothing else that indicates that he ever used that name. He is buried under the name John. Maybe Grandma Minnie never knew he was baptized Lambert. In the Schueneman book I classified all of us under Lambert John. He was the only one of his siblings who never used his baptismal name; I guess he just liked John better. His first son was called John Charles. Now, I knew that Uncle Charlie never used the name John, and his marriage license shows his name as Charles but, lo and behold, his death certificate is under John Charles.
Aunt Jo Heimer's and Grandma Minnie's namesakes were easier to understand. Aunt Jo was really Josephine and she was named after her Grandmother Josephine Wiggenhorn. Grandma Minnie’s real name was Wilhelmina, after her mother. However, her death certificate and obituary read only Minnie. She was never known as Wilhelmina. With my sister we also have the same example. Mitzi was really baptized Martha. To my knowledge, she has never used the name Martha. Will she follow the example of our grandmother and use Mitzi forever? By the way, I asked Mitzi if I could use her name as an example.
There are so many examples in the family today. Names stay with us forever.
Take for example the March and now the April newsletter. If Rebecca hadn’t given Harry the name of Elson, tracing the family would have been very difficult. The names Free and Crane had already been given to the older boys, namely Charles Free Durland and Oscar Crane Durland. All the family recognizes those names. When Rebecca’s third son, who died at age 9, was born he was given the name George Robert, Robert being the name of his grandfather Durland. How lucky for us the name Elson was next in line and Becky gave birth to another boy. Since there were no females we don’t have to wonder how she and James would have named the girls.
Going back a generation, Mary Ann Crane named her first son William Robert, after his paternal grandparent William and father Robert. It would seem that Mary Ann’s father Obadiah Crane would have rated some mention, but Obadiah left the family for the West so perhaps he was an outcast. Mary Ann’s next son, our immediate grandfather, was called James Youngs. The only James I can find is one of her brothers. However, the Youngs name came from James’ paternal grandmother, Sara Youngs. We lucked out there too. Of the three sons of Robert Durland, only our grandfather James had a family surname unless the youngest son, whose name is Maurice Gould, was named for someone named Gould, not on our side. The three girls were Eliza Ann, Amanda Ellen, and Phoebe Jane.
But history tells us that many of these names only somewhat follow the English naming system so already customs in this new country were beginning to form. In the case of Mary Ann Crane the English naming patterns would have been predominant. Not the Dutch naming conventions because only the name survived, not the nationality. The Dutch naming system is complicated and very different from the English. I think it is safe to say that the Dutch heritage was lost with all the intermarriages with the English, even though the name persisted despite all the changes.
In the case of our German grandfather John Schueneman, his first name was really Lambert, which shows up on his baptismal certificate, but there is nothing else that indicates that he ever used that name. He is buried under the name John. Maybe Grandma Minnie never knew he was baptized Lambert. In the Schueneman book I classified all of us under Lambert John. He was the only one of his siblings who never used his baptismal name; I guess he just liked John better. His first son was called John Charles. Now, I knew that Uncle Charlie never used the name John, and his marriage license shows his name as Charles but, lo and behold, his death certificate is under John Charles.
Aunt Jo Heimer's and Grandma Minnie's namesakes were easier to understand. Aunt Jo was really Josephine and she was named after her Grandmother Josephine Wiggenhorn. Grandma Minnie’s real name was Wilhelmina, after her mother. However, her death certificate and obituary read only Minnie. She was never known as Wilhelmina. With my sister we also have the same example. Mitzi was really baptized Martha. To my knowledge, she has never used the name Martha. Will she follow the example of our grandmother and use Mitzi forever? By the way, I asked Mitzi if I could use her name as an example.
There are so many examples in the family today. Names stay with us forever.