This is not really a question but a need for confirmation. I am searching for my great grandfather who came from Hildesheim and I am confused about the spelling of his surname. He listed on the passenger manifest and the New Orleans courthouse index list with one spelling and on the baptismal certificate of a son with another spelling. I have been told that one of the spellings, Burchtorff , is "low German" and later records show his name spelled Burgdorf. What is "low" German? And are these two spellings really synonymous? Thanks for any help.
Max Burgdorf
low german or niederdeutsch is a kind of dialect I recon, involving
different pronounciations and different spellings e.g. my surname hase
been spelled
Miltner
Moltner
Multner
Moldner
Mildner
Muldner
Moldener
Mildener
Miltner
aso, so yes that is a synonyme, just bare the different spellings in
min as you search
Until around 1876 when the civil registration was set up people wrote names just as they heard them. So - depending on the pronunciation (e.g. dialect) or "habits" of the writer - the names were written down. It could even happen that within the same document the spelling of the same name differs.
This does not have anything directly to do with Low German but may have some influence in some cases. Low German is not a dialect but rather an own language, which is disappearing now.