Oh boy!
by all the "Düvell", hasn`t been my intention to intrigue you. So
there was no determinations of concrete time of change of name, I
tried to find possible explanations.
I think we already established that any connection between Dügenfeldt
and Düvell, however you spell the latter. Such a sudden name change
would have had other reasons the mostly likely being the farm name
change I mentioned.
As the writing "Düvell" for me
sounds more similar to the French "Duval" than to the Plattdeutsch
"Düwel", I suggested as a possible explanation some fashionable
reason, which might occure in a special period of strengthened French
influence in the northern parts of Germnany. So you find in this time
a lot of French prenames in the parish books.
While I agree that French cultural influenced had their measure in
Germany especially during the hight of the Prussian era, this did not
affect the common people out in the country very much. Our 'uppity'
class of city slickers and nobelity cared about such thing and even
knoew about them while the folks out in the Bauerschaft really had no
connection to anything French. They simply went on with life as they
always had. Over time most French influence was Germanized so that
even emigrants from France after the recall of the Edict of Nantes
eventaully wound up having German sounding names. It's the way tings
have always gone in that a dominating culture will take precedence
over time.
As for example "Lucia"
now was written "Louise" or from "Sofia" one changes to "Sophie",
even "Karla" some- times became "Charlotte".
Lucia is Italian I believe. I thought that Luise/Louise/Lisa is just
a short form for Elisabeth. Or is it simply the female form of Louis
that long line of 16 French kings? The German version being Ludwig? I
dodn't know. I have no reference material handy.
But in general such minor deviations had little to do with French
culture as the names quickly became purely German names and the
people had no idea that an earlier version started in some other
country.
There was much more Latinization of previously German names where
even my name shows up as Rumpius in the 16th century when such names
changes were in vogue by the priests who knew Latin and started
chaging peoples names.
But as I wrote, there may
be a lot of othr reasons. The proof you are looking for is - if I got
you right - the concrete change of the Duff example from Dügenfeldt to
Düvell. I had no doubt, that the change has happened, but as religion
had a greater meaning than today, why should anyone choose voluntary
the "devil"-meaning for a new name.
All it took was a marriage into the Duwell family.
That seems to be something else
than being accustomed since generations to such a name. For the people
who mostly could not speak and understand anaything else than their
dialect, one may assume that they were not able to recognize the
meaning of "Düwel", in what they had the meaning of "devil", in the
name "Düvell".
I don't know about that. Even if they did, people did not simply
change their names because they didn't like them. Such things
happened much later in time.
That as more as it was pronounced weak on the "v" and
long and weak on "ll" at the end. I don´t know the spread of "Düvell"
in different types of social groups, but your example leads to the
better situated people by that time. So I would after all not say,
that is has just been a name as all the other ones.
If the better situated people didn't mind keeping the name, the less
powerful person only concerned with having food in his mouth the next
day would certainly not bother to change it either. My example just
happened to be next to me but these people all were farmers just like
everyone else. They were simply bigger farmers and that is why they
held powerful positions. But there were plenty of very ordinary
Duvells around northern Germany too. It had become just another name.
But you might have
more experience in research of the "Düvell" and others.
I really dodn't. I just remember some older discussions of Duwell in
Osnabrück I think it was even in Bissendorf. So when I now run into
the name my memory banks perk up and I see it pop up out of a page of
otherwise irrelevant data. I'm sure many of us have such recall.
I am with you,
when you say, in "Dügenfeldt" there is no visible semantic connection
to the "devil"- semantic. So there must be another reason than the
slightly change, to come from "Dügenfeldt" to "Düvell". Vanity has
always been in history of great influence, i tried to take that into
considerations, even those are no substitute for real proof.
Without knowledge to the contrary the change was probably the typical
move into a new farm name change.
Hope no one got tired from the above
No, no. It's always interesting to have a good conversation.
Fred
4788 Corian Court
Naples, FL 34114
239-775-7838; 239-269-4781 (cell)
FredRump@earthlink.net
I have spent the last few years researching in the churches there. It took me 30 years to finally find the original home of my great grandparents Johann Heinrich Kiehn, born 27 March 1825 in Hankesb�ttel, and his wife, Friederike Dorothee Marie Meyer, born 20 Sept 1828 in T�lau, Br�me, Gifhorn Hannover. Her parents were Johann William Meyer b. 13 May 1795 in Fahrenhorst and Catharine Dorothee Schulzen b. 27 Nov 1801 in T�lau. (I have 1 more generation in this family.) jJohann Heinrich Kiehn's parents were Jochim Diedrich Kiehn born about 1799 in Glien, Prussia and Catarina Marie Duevell born 6 November 1795 in Hankensb�ttel. The D�vell family name was changed from D�genfeldt in the 1700's. (That I don't understand......why would someone change there surname to devil?)