LL-L "Names" 2004.01.08 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 08.JAN.2004 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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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: Names

Ron & LIst,
    I had previously thought the Mennonite surname Loewen (my paternal
grandmother's maiden name, by the way) was meant to be the German löwen=
lions, from perhaps a sign over a tavern, or inn known locally as "The
Lions."  They used to name taverns that way in England so I'm told e.g.
"Rose and Thistle", "Bull and Bear", "The Lions" etc.
    On my mother's side of the family, we have the name Sawatzky.  It was my
maternal grandfather's mother's maiden name.  The story in the family was
that the name was Slavic.  Some Mennonite historians C. Henry Smith, for
example, seem to think that there may have been some conversion among a few
of the ethnic Slavs living in the Vistula Delta area, hence the Slavic
sounding names one finds such as Sawatzky, Tillitsky, and Ragalsky among Low
German Mennonites.
    As for the very common Low German name Friesen among Mennonites, I
suspect that name whatever it's origins was given to many different and
unrelated individuals as family groups migrated to avoid persecution in the
sixteenth century.  I have attempted to play "the Mennonite Game" with other
folks who have the name in their family and have found that not all Friesens
are related.   My two cents' worth.
Jim Krause

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