Germany Naming Customs: Difference between revisions

*Female surnames often end with ''"-in". '' For example, Barbara Meyer may appear as Barbara Meyerin. Some surnames do end in ''"-in," ''however.  To make sure of whether this is a feminine ending for the surname you're looking at, or truly part of the surname, try to find a surname index to the record you are searching, even if it doesn't start until many years later.  You could also search pages back and forth in the record looking for a male with that basic surname.    

*Germans occasionally use -chen and -lein as diminutive endings meaning “little.” Gretchen could be translated little Greta (Margret). The endings -s or -es show possession. Hermann Josefs Sohn would mean Joseph's son Hermann.