[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] HAVICUS - HAVEKOST - HABICHTHORST

Günther Böhm GHBoehm at ish.de
Fri Jul 12 04:51:56 PDT 2002


Hello Judy, Rose & Gerald,
here is a little correction or continuation of my previous message:
The attempted latinization (-us) is just one possible explanation of the 
name HAVICUS. A second one sounds a lot more plausible.

As I found out, there are several villages and one small town in Germany 
named HAVEKOST, HABIGHORST, HABICHHORST, HABICHTHORST and HABICHTSHORST:

HAVEKOST, district Herzogtum Lauenburg, Schleswig-Hostein
HAVEKOST near Bevensen, district Uelzen, Niedersachsen
HAVEKOST near Ahrensboek, district Ostholstein, Schleswig-Holstein
HAVEKOST near Ganderkesee, district Oldenburg, Niedersachsen
HABIGHORST, district Celle, Niedersachsen
HABIGHORST near Buende, district Herford, Nordrhein-Westfalen
HABIGHORST near Halle, district Guetersloh, Nordrhein-Westfalen
HABICHHORST near Stadthagen, district Schaumburg, Niedersachsen
HABICHTHORST near Schiffdorf, district Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen
HABICHTSHORST near Hemdingen, district Pinneberg, Schleswig-Hostein
HABICHTSHORST near Ritterhude, district Osterholz, Niedersachsen

They are apparently all of the same name origin, in English "hawk's 
eyree". The Middle Lower German HAAVEK HORST was weared down to HAVEKOST 
and (by assimilation to fashionable Latin names) HAVICUS respectively 
re-translated to understandable modern German HABICHTHORST or 
HABICHTSHORST. So the name HAVICUS doesn't directly refer to a medieval 
founder HAVEC or HAVIC but just to the respective villages of origin 
which might be founded by different persons named HAVEC, but not 
necessarily. The location names may also be just symbols for fortified 
houses or castles.

Guenther
from Hilden, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany



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