Why is this important to me… simply because
recurring name patterns often indicate where a family is from,
and may also indicate their religious preference.
Why is this important to me… simply because
recurring name patterns often indicate where a family is from,
and may also indicate their religious preference.
The following is copied from George Lint's notes of 1996 and is interesting. It is a list of names used by men and women in the Hunsruck between 1650 and 1800. It is broken down by religion into Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed Lutheran. The three kreis [townships] used were Kirchberg, Kastellaun, and Gemunden on the northeast end of the Hunsruck. It's broken into two parts; first the actual names used and their percentage of use…. and second the breakdown of people with no, 1, 2, 3 , and more forenames.
Forenames used and percentage
in the Catholic faith:
Women % Men %
Anne 25.2 Johannes 39.6
Maria 24.4 Peter 11.6
Katharina 13.7 Nickolaus 6.2
Margareth 10.1 Jakob 5.0
Elisabeth 7.5 Philipp 3.8
Gertrud 3.3 Adam 3.4
Barbara 3.2 Franz 3.3
Eva 1.6 Heinrich 2.9
Franziska 1.4 Matthes 2.7
Christina 1.4 Joseph 2.7
Susanna 1.3 Anton 2.5
Magdalena 1.1 Micheal 1.7
Johanna 0.8 Wilhelm 1.5
Sophia 0.7 Andreas 1.2
Regina 0.7 Georg 1.0
Other names 3.6 Other names 10.9
# of names 36 # of names 64
# of women 2403 # of men 2382
Forenames used and percentage
in the Lutheran faith:
Women % Men %
Maria 27.2 Johannes 36.0
Katharina 12.7 Friedrich 8.1
Anna 11.5 Peter 6.4
Elisabeth 11.3 Heinrich 5.0
Margareth 7.0 Nikolaus 4.6
Sophia 4.5 Georg 4.5
Juliana 4.1 Philipp 3.1
Philippina 2.6 Christian 3.0
Dorothea 2.0 Martin 2.6
Christina 1.7 Christoph 2.6
Sibilla 1.6 Karl 2.3
Eleonora 1.3 Konrad 2.2
Regina 1.2 David 2.1
Magdalena 1.0 Wilhelm 1.9
Barbara 1.0 Ludwig 1.5
Other names 9.3 Other names 14.1
# of names 53 # of names 66
# of women 2105 # of men 2198
Forenames used and percentage
in the Reformed Lutheran faith:
Women % Men %
Maria 23.1 Johannes 41.1
Anna 17.9 Peter 8.3
Katharina 15.7 Nickolaus 7.6
Elisabeth 10.9 Jakob 5.8
Margareth 9.8 Heinrich 4.3
Eva 3.4 Adam 2.6
Magdalena 2.6 Georg 2.5
Susanna 2.2 Wilhelm 2.4
Christina 1.7 Friedrich 2.4
Agnes 0.9 Franz 2.2
Wilhelmina 0.9 Christoph 2.0
Charlotta 0.9 David 1.8
Sabina 0.7 Matthes 1.5
Amelia 0.7 Michael 1.4
Gertrud 0.7 Ludwig 1.2
Other names 7.9 Other names 12.9
# of names 69 # of names 94
# of women 6313 # of men 6205
Numbers of forenames used by
persons of Catholic faith:
Women Men
None 11 15
One [1] 183 527
Two [2] 1065 904
Three [3] 27 9
Three + 2 5
Total 1288 1460
Numbers of forenames used by
persons of Lutheran faith:
Women Men
None 25 33
One [1] 19 36
Two [2] 991 1036
Three [3] 32 30
Three + 2 0
Total 1069 1135
Number of forenames used by persons
of Reformed Lutheran faith:
Women Men
None 49 52
One [1] 35 86
Two [2] 2670 2936
Three [3] 295 81
Three + 13 1
Total 3062 3156
You can draw your own conclusions both from the names used by the persons of the three primary faiths during that period [1650-1800] and by the number of forenames used. Note the overwhelming use of the names Johannes [John] and Maria [Mary]. Also note the overwhelming use of two forenames. These names and name combinations recurr over and over again. Hans, Hannes, Johan, Johann, Johannes [all John] followed by Peter, Nikolaus, Jakob, Heinrich, are all favorites as are Maria Elisabeth, Maria Katharina, Anna Margareth, Anna Maria, etc.
What isn't here is also important… note that Philipp is used by the Catholics and Lutherans but not the Reformed Lutherans. While Christoph, David, and Ludwig are used by the Lutherans and Reformed but not the Catholics. Christian, Martin, and Karl are used exclusively by the Lutherans while surprisingly Joseph, Anton, and Andreas are almost exclusively Catholic. Forgive me for not doing the same with the women's names but you can do this as easily as I can.
Why is this important to me… simply because recurring name patterns often indicate where a family is from, and may also indicate their religious preference. Because of the devastation that was brought upon the Palatine region [Rheinland-Pfalz today] in the 1700's a very large number of early German immigrants to America were from this region.
The datum was taken from Familie, Fortpflanzung und Bevolkerungsentwicklung in Hunsruck… The Demography of Kirchberg, Kastellaun, and Gemunden 1650-1800.. Timothy G. Saunders. Peter Lang publisher. ISSN 0531-7320 ISBN 3-631-48482-8 1995 Tim [British] did his doctoral thesis on this paper/book at the University of Trier where I found it. I've been wanting to transfer these notes into something more useable for a long time now.
<From George F. Lint Feb 2002>