[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Name Translations by Reiner

Jan Textor textor_jan at hotmail.com
Sun Oct 15 03:01:13 PDT 2006


Tricia,

First of all, I do not quite agree with Reiner's statement "Amalie (German) 
=> Emilia (Polish)".  It is possible that the German name Amalia/Amalie was 
sometimes "translated" into Polish as Emilia, but Emilia is also a perfectly 
well-known German name.  Emilia is the female form of Emil which originates 
from French and Latin, Aemilius (eager, competitive).  In German, Emilia is 
interchangeable with Emilie.  The English form of Emilia is Emily.

Another matter is that Wilhelmina/Wilhelmine (the female form of Wilhelm) 
often was "translated" into Emilia in the Polish church records.

So, if one comes across the name Emilia in Polish church records for people 
of German origin one must be aware that this could be either 
1)Emilia/Emilie, or 2)Wilhelmine/Wilhelmina or 3)Amalia/Amalie.

By the way, I take it that the abbreviation Pomm. means Pommern (Pomerania). 
  Pommern was part of Prussia until 1871, when a unified German Empire was 
created at the end of the Franco-Prussian war, and Pommern became a province 
of this empire.  So, before 1871 Pommern was in Prussia and after that time 
it was in Germany.  Now, after 1945, the western part of Pommern is still in 
Germany, while the eastern part belongs to Poland.

Hope this helps.

Jan Textor



>From: "rbbtfarm" <rbbtfarm at wavecable.com>
>To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
>Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Name Translations by Reiner
>Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 00:30:36 -0700
>
>Hi Reiner and List,
>
>I am particularly interested in this, because of the example you gave:
>
>Amalie (German) => Emilia (Polish)
>
>My grt-grandmother was Bertha Emilie SELINGER. We have been wondering where
>she and her family came from in Europe. My Aunt thought they might have 
>been
>from So. Germany. We have documentation in original papers that her husband
>was from Pomm. They did not meet until both families settled in IL, as far
>as we know. Your example makes me wonder if her family had come from Pomm.
>or that vincinity and not Germany. Is it possible that the spelling of her
>middle name, Emilie could hold the keep to her ancestry?
>
>This is of  particular interest to me as our dau. is expecting our first
>grandchild in 3 months. The kids had just picked out EMILIA as the first
>name for their child. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the example
>given.
>
>Just wondering,
>
>Tricia M.
>
>----------original message------------
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >   1. Re: Name translations (Reiner Kerp)
>
> > Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:25:14 +0200
> > From: "Reiner Kerp" <mail at reiner-kerp.de>
>
>"The German spelling" ....
>
>as people hate diacritical characters, there are always problems with
>"German Names" not only in polish records. I think, in russsian records 
>it?s
>the same. And, as time went by, even the German spelling changed. Another
>source of influence is the local dialect. You may hardly find RULES for
>this.
>
>We find many "Translations" from German into Polish like
>or just "adjustments" because of the different pronounciation of vowels (E
>instead of A or U instad of O), like:
>
>Amalie (German) => Emilia (Polish)
>
>  If looking for names like Buss, be aware that, in old German script, it 
>was
>written Boo? or in still older records even Bohs.
> >
> > Comparing the names you search for with those on
> >
> > http://www.odessa3.org/collections/census/link/geser.txt
> >
> > in many cases will lead you to the original spelling.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Reiner
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ger-Poland-Volhynia Mailing List hosted by
>Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe http://www.sggee.org
>Mailing list info at http://www.sggee.org/listserv





More information about the Ger-Poland-Volhynia mailing list