Your comment about the (correct) Burgdorf got me to thinking about how
we decide which spelling is correct.� I am not saying your spelling
is wrong, it just brought up the thought.
�
I think that many of us tend to believe that the current spelling of
our surname is the correct one.� However, isn't the spelling which
was first written in years past the correct one?� Don't we sometimes
pursue our own vanity? Many times we are searching for the wrong name.
�
Thoughts?
�
Gale
�
Part of the following message was deleted for brevity.
I ran into that type of problem (the changing spelling of a name) even with my own name of Wiese. In Germany it is so common a word (as well as a name) that it is almost never mis-spelled there. The United States is a different story. Here the first spelling I found in the records was "Weise", which is not the same name at all. Since then I have found many different spellings. Frequently the "i" and the "e" are reversed. Then the final "e" is dropped. When that happens the "s" is frequently doubled. Some really interesting forms of the double "s" include the letter "ß" which has no place at all in my surname. Another family that connects with mine is Schwenn. I found several versions of this, but I had the greatest trouble tracking down the name when it was spelled "Schween". The other side of my family has the name "Berndt". Do not attempt to find all the variants there. My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Caroline Tewes. On the record of the daughter who died at the age of three, the mother's maiden name was given as (get this): Geborna Taves. It took me a long time to figure that one out: Geborna = geborne [born] and Taves = [the German pronunciation of Tewes]. My advice: Do not EVER assume that the name is spelled the way you spell it. It probably is spelled very differently depending on the time and place. Also, a good sense of humor is necessary, as well as a superb imagination.
Gene (Wiese)
Eugene M. Wiese
838 Linlawn Drive
Wabash, IN 46992-3903
emwiese1@comcast.net