LL-L "Names" 2004.01.07 (02) [E]

Wed Jan 7 21:42:37 UTC 2004

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: jpkrause <jpkrause at weblink2000.net>
Subject: Mennonites

Ron,
    Thanks for clarifying some of my generalizations.  More properly I
likely should have said that I recognize many Dutch surnames on my mother's
side of the family, such as Dirks (Dirksz) Jantzen (Jantzoon [sp?]),
Willems, along with some LS names like Schroeder.  Even my mother's maiden
name Friesen I suspect betrays some sort of LS connection.  Interelstingly
an uncle of mine interested in the subject could not find that name in The
Netherlands, but he was certain that the family had origins there.
Jim Krause

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Names

Jim, Lowlanders,

Names with (_-soon_ >~ _-söön_ >) _-sen_ ("son of ...") are quite common in
Northern Germany as well, apparently most common along the North Sea coast,
in ("formerly") Frisian areas and in areas with a history of contacts with
Jutish (and Danish).  This not to say that I preclude the existence of this
type of  surname in "purely" Lowlands-Saxon-speaking areas.  In fact, you
will find equivalents of all the above in Northern Germany, namely Dirksen,
Dirks, Deerksen, Derksen, etc. (*"Derekson"), Janssen, Janßen, Jansen,
Jenssen, Jensen, Johannsen, Hansen, etc. ("Johnson"), Willemsen, Willmsen,
Wilhelmsen, etc. ("Williams(on)").  ("Johannsen/Hansen" and "Wilhelmsen" are
examples of partly Germanized forms.)

I have long wondered about the surname Friesen being common among Mennonites
and being relatively rare in the Netherlands and in Germany.  Of course, in
the Netherlands we have forms such as Vries and de Vries, and in Germany
forms like German(ized?) Friese and Fries, and LS-based (Freys(e) >) Freese,
Frese, Frees, etc., all assumedly meaning "(the) Fries(isan)."  In my mind
there are three possible reasons for the common occurrence of "Friesen"
among Mennonites:

1. A person by this rare name and his descendents were very prolific in the
Mennonite community in the early days.

2. It started off as a new construction (Fries+sen "son of the Fries"),
analogous to other _-sen_ names.

3. It is based on an orthographic hyper-correction of what used to be (North
German) Friese, mispelled by speakers of a Plautdietsch (or earlier West
Prussian) dialect that pronounces _-en_ as though it were spelled _-e_
(which is predominant in Plautdietsch, is also very wide-spread in
Netherlandic varieties).

I was also thinking about the not uncommon Mennonite surname Löwen.  I
assume it is derived from the Dutch name Leeuwen.

Below are a few examples of (various stages of) Germanization of Lowlands
Saxon (Low German) surnames.

[LS, ANS spelling] > [LS, German spelling] > [(*semi-)German form] ([Engl.
equivalent/meaning])

Assenmaker > Assenmaker > *Assenmacher, Achsenmacher (Cartwright, Carter,
Waggoner)

Bargman > Bargmann > Bergmann (Hillman, "miner"?)

Broukman > Brookmann, Brau(c)kmann > Bruchmann ("man on swampy (brook)
land") [my mother's maidenname]

Bruun > Bruhn > Braun (Brown)

Buer, Buur > Buhr > Bauer ("settler," "farmer")

Buermeyster > Bu(h)rmeester > *Burmeister ("master farmer," "chief farmer")

Grote, Groot > Grothe, Groth > Groß ("large," "tall")

Haan > Hahn > Hagen ("by the grove," Hawn?)

Hagedourn, Haagdourn > *Hagedorn, *Hagdorn > Hagedorn (Hawthorn)

Harder > Harder > Schäfer (Herder, Shepherd)

Kok > Kock > Koch (Cook)

Koster, Köster > Koster, Köster > Küster (Sexton)

Kröyger > Kröger > Krüger ("innkeeper")

Kruse, Kruus' > Kruse, Krus > Krause, Kraus ("curly")

Nybuer, Nybuur > Niebur, Niebuhr > Neubauer ("new settler")

Nyhuus > Niehus > Neuhaus (Newhouse)

Nyman, Neyman > Niemann, Neemann > Neumann (Newman)

Opperman > Oppermann > *Offermann, Messner, Küster (Sexton)

Puttkamer > Puttkamer, *Puttkammer > Putzkammer ("janitor," Chamberlain?)

Schoumaker > Schomaker, Schohmaker > *Schohmacher, Schuhmacher (Shoemaker)

Schrader, Schröder > Schrader, Schröder > Schneider (Tailor, Taylor)

Schult, Schulte > Schult, Schulte > Schulze, Schultze, Schulz, Schultz
("mayor")

Seyler > Seeler, Seiler > (Seiler?) ("ropemaker," Roper)

Slüsser, Slösser > -- > *Schlüsser, *Schlösser, Schlosser ("locksmith")

Smid > Smitt > *Schmidt, *Schmitt, Schmied (Smith)

Stelmaker > Stellmaker > *Stellmacher, Wagner (Cartwright, Carter, Waggoner)

Swart, Swat > Schwart, Schwatt > Schwarz (Black)

Timmerman > Timmermann > Zimmermann (Carpenter)

Wit > Witt > Weiß (White)

Of relevance to Mennonite and other supposed East "German" names is that the
ending _-ke_ (e.g., Jäschke and Hantke) very often signals West Slavonic
origin (as do _-ki_ and _-ky_), though they may be popularly understood to
contain the Saxon diminutive suffix _-ke(n)_.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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