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Germany Naming Customs: Difference between revisions
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Jews in Germany followed the custom of using only a given name and the name of the father, such as Isaac, son of Abraham (Isaac ben Abraham). Most Jews did not adopt hereditary family names until required to do so by law. By the 1820s, most small German states had extended civil rights to Jews and required them to adopt surnames. | Jews in Germany followed the custom of using only a given name and the name of the father, such as Isaac, son of Abraham (Isaac ben Abraham). Most Jews did not adopt hereditary family names until required to do so by law. By the 1820s, most small German states had extended civil rights to Jews and required them to adopt surnames. | ||
=== Grammatical Effects on German Surames === | |||
'''Gender and grammar can affect German surname endings.''' | |||
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*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. | |||
* In West Low German parlance the ending "…sch(e)" is sometimes added to surnames of women, related to the standard High German adjective ending "…isch" (cognitive to English "…ish"), suffixed to nouns or adjectives indicating belonging/pertaining to, being of the kind described by the suffixed word: for example, de Smidtsche, is Ms Schmidt (Smith), but literally about the Smithian (the woman pertaining to a man/family named Schmidt).[19] | |||
*Another form, indicating a female bearer of a surname, was the addition of a genitive "s", the daughter or wife of Mr. Bäcker (literally Baker) would appear as Ms Bäckers (in German without an apostrophe), as being Bäcker's daughter or wife.<ref>"German name", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_name, accessed 12 February 2021.</ref> | |||
===Spelling Variation by Dialect=== | ===Spelling Variation by Dialect=== | ||