Learning About Names

Onomastics: the science of names; the study of origins and forms of proper names.

Names are interesting, particularly when associated with genealogy and family history. Or if you simply wonder how, when, or where a name came from. I occasionally write about names, nicknames, and naming patterns, which may even give a few clues to identify our ancestors.

If you also enjoy learning about names, here are three books you will find interesting and helpful. Each offers different information about names, their origins, and their meanings.   

The Name IS The Game, Bockstruck

The first book is The Name IS the Game, Onomatology and the Genealogist, Lloyd de Witt Bockstruck, alias Niederbockstruck, FNGS, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2013.

Whether your ancestors were from Europe or from the colonies, this book will help you understand names and naming patterns. This 80-page book is interesting and easy to read, while learning about names at the same time. The author, from his family research and the research of others, gives numerous examples of all sorts of naming issues. A couple examples:

The author explains that Becker was the German form of Baker and both are identical when spoken in German.

Another item, about the practice of renaming children with same given name. The author points out that a name was not always reused because a child had died, but that some families used a name again even though the older child was still living. Two living children with the same given name in the same family. That may be something to consider and could be of great help and understanding when doing research in certain instances. 

And, in some instances in Germany, the husband took the wife’s surname.

The author covers a lot of information about names in this book and I enjoyed reading through it and learning, even though I was not looking for anything specific.

American Surnames, Smith

The second book is about surnames: American Surnames, Elsdon C. Smith, Genealogical Publishing Company, Fourth Printing 2003. 

In this 370-page book, the author goes into detail to explain several ways that surnames developed and came to be–from the father’s name, from occupation or office, from a description or action, from a place, or from none of those classifications. A whole chapter is devoted to describing each of those classifications, going back to European name origins.

The book includes a 40-page index of hundreds of surnames, with references to one or more of the above-mentioned chapters, giving the origins of those surnames.

German-American Names, Jones

The third book about names: German-American Names, 3^rd Edition, George F. Jones, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2006.

The first 66 pages of this 354-page book, called the Introduction, explains the origins and roots of German given names and surnames. The author explains how names, including Christian names, began and evolved over time, by describing the same basic naming classifications mentioned in the previous book, occupation, location, father’s name, or description. The author also discusses the Americanization of German names. 

After the explanatory Introduction, the bulk of this book is an alphabetical list of numerous German-American names and their spelling variations, with cross-references, meanings, and origins.  

An example from the book, a surname that can also be a given name, with its spelling variations, cross-references, and meaning: Dederick, Dedrich, Dedrick, Dietrich, Diederich, Diedrich, Diedrichs, Dietrich, Dietrich, Dieterich, Diederich, Dietrichs, Diettrich, Dietrick. A reference back to the Introduction explains that Theodoric evolved into the name Dietrich. Diet meaning the folk and rich suggesting mastery or rule (folk + rule). Dietrich: the ruler of the folk.

An example from my family: Breuninger, with alternate spellings of Breun, Braeunig, Breuninger, Brauning, Brauninger, Brauning, Brauninger Braunigger. Braun meaning brown hair. Breuninger: having brown hair.

These books, as well as many other books about genealogy and family history, may be purchased from Genealogical.com.