A boy named Adolf
SolomonW
reading of one called Adolf Herman ....
How popular was this name in Germany during the Nazi era, what happened to
the name after the war?
Scott M. Kozel
I would think that the last name would be far more of an issue than the
first name ... what happened to the last name Hitler after the war? How
popular was it, and did a lot of people by that name change the name?
Rich Rostrom
> How popular was [the last name Hitler], and did a
> lot of people by that name change [it] after the war?
AFAIK there were very few people named Hitler.
His own family, who were only marginally
literate at best, spelled the name Hiedler
or sometimes Huttler.
His father Alois went by Schicklgruber, the
name of his unmarried mother, until at age 39,
when he declared that his late stepfather
Johann Hiedler was really his father, and
asked to change his name. The new name was
set down as Hitler, no one knows why.
Alois Hitler had two sons, Alois jr and
Adolph. Alois jr had two sons: Heinz, who
died in a Soviet PoW camp, and William
Patrick (who served in the U.S. Navy
during WW II). William changed his name
after the war to Stuart-Houston.
Don Phillipson
news:LGXxm.2$JS...@newsfe01.ams2...
> During the Nazi regime, many German boys were given the name Adolf. . . .
> How popular was this name in Germany during the Nazi era, what happened to
> the name after the war?
The name probably became popular after King Gustavus Adolphus
conquered much of northern Europe in the early 17th century. It was
particularly popular throughout the 19th century, cf. its frequency in
noble families. Hitler was thus named in 1889. (At least three
generations of my own ancestors named their elest son Adolphus
between 1820 and 1905.)
Wikipedia tells us: "The use of Adolf as a given name has drastically
declined following the regime of Nazi Germany and its F�hrer, Adolf
Hitler, and it has since been a widely avoided name for newborn boys."
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Rhino
dropped dramatically after the war.
I'm just jumping in to repeat something I read once in trivia book.
Apparently, there were 11 Hitlers in the New York City phone book prior to
WW II but none afterwards. I don't know if these people were any close
relations to Adolf Hitler but I'm assuming they took pains to change their
names, even if they weren't.
--
Rhino
Rich Rostrom
wrote:
> I'm just jumping in to repeat something I read once in trivia book.
> Apparently, there were 11 Hitlers in the New York City phone book prior to
> WW II but none afterwards.
Almost certainly bogus. The name
"Hitler" (with that spelling) was
unknown in Germany and Austria.
Hitler's semi-literate paternal
ancestors spelled it either "Hiedler"
or "Huttler". The "Hitler" spelling
first appeared when Hitler's father,
previously known as "Schicklgruber",
asserted that his stepfather Johann
Hiedler was actually his father, and
legally changed his name. (Alois was
born out of wedlock; Johann married
his mother five years later.) The
clerk wrote down "Hitler" for some
reason.
The only people ever known to use
the "Hitler" spelling were Alois
and his descendants: Adolf, his
half-brother Alois jr, and Alois'
two sons, William Patrick and Heinz.
(Heinz died in the war. William
Patrick, who was British like his
mother, emigrated to the U.S.,
served in the U.S. Navy, and changed
his name after the war.)
narrl...@hotmail.com
wrote:
I've mentioned before running across a book in the last year or so
(maybe longer) in a bookstore which posited among other things that
the surname Hitler, rare as it was and is, was usually a -Jewish-
name. The author (not obviously a loon) apparently found many Hitlers
in the lists of Jewish victims of the Nazis. As I don't recall the
book itself, still less do I recall what source was given.
I have had the experience, more than a few times in my life, of
explaining that my own family name (the same as the iconic victim of
the Nazis) does not make me Jewish (NTTAWWT).
Narr
Rich Rostrom
> I have had the experience, more than a few times in my life, of
> explaining that my own family name (the same as the iconic victim of
> the Nazis) does not make me Jewish (NTTAWWT).
Would that be Anne Frank?
That is not an exclusively Jewish name.
For instance, Hans Frank was a notorious
Nazi leader - "Governor-General" of
occupied Poland and Nuremburg defendant.
Then there was Alfred Rosenberg, the
Nazi racial "philosopher".
OTOH there are Irishmen named Cohen:
a variant spelling of Cohan.
narrl...@hotmail.com
> On Oct 28, 4:48 pm, narrled...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > I have had the experience, more than a few times in my life, of
> > explaining that my own family name (the same as the iconic victim of
> > the Nazis) does not make me Jewish (NTTAWWT).
>
> Would that be Anne Frank?
None other.
> That is not an exclusively Jewish name.
> For instance, Hans Frank was a notorious
> Nazi leader - "Governor-General" of
> occupied Poland and Nuremburg defendant.
I know that, you know that, and I suspect most regulars here know
that; my point is that too many others don't. (And look up Karl Frank
sometime; either Hans or Karl was Hitler's personal lawyer--I can
never remember which. My own Opa, also a Karl Frank, arrived in the
USA in 1909 as a young man. Time for a centennial celebration of
Franks in America!)
> Then there was Alfred Rosenberg, the
> Nazi racial "philosopher".
I recall reading about a particularly vicious incident involving a
young Polish Jew named Rosenberg--to some Nazi minds, that was a
provocation in and of itself.
> OTOH there are Irishmen named Cohen:
> a variant spelling of Cohan.
I read once that the fraternal organization "Jewish Sons of Eire" had
some 700 members in the USA. I don't recall anything about names,
though.
Narr