Town named after my ancestor?
pa...@nospam.hsh.com
named WINGENDORFF "had a town named after them."
And, it seems, there is a town named WINGENDORFF in present-day
Germany (east of Ihlefeld and west-northwest of Mihla, if
Mapquest is correct). There are also at least three towns
named WINGENDORF (with one 'F').
If the town of WINGENDORFF was named after my ancestor, how might
this have happened? Did it happen often?
Or is it more likely that my ancestors took their surname from
the town?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Paul Havemann,
who regrets the need to remove 'nospam' to reply by email.
Researching BAUER, BERESFORD, BERMA (DEU), BROWN (No. NJ),
CONKLIN (No. NJ), FRAME, HARTUNG, HAVEMANN, MUSTERER,
WETZEL/WITSEL, WINGENDORFF
Have info related to BEHRENS (CT), HEIMOWITZ (NYC 1920s),
NOVOTNY (NYC 1920s)
Christa Sobczak
is likely that the town is named after your ancestor. If your
ancestor's name is Wingendorf(f), then they would most likely have taken
the name of the town as their surname.
How did it happen that towns/villages were named for a family? They
were usually the land-owners and proprietors of the estates and employed
the people in the village. The land/estate owner also owned and
provided dwellings for their farm workers. In modern terms you might
call it a "company town".
Christa
Jim Eggert
> Family lore tells me that one of my ancestral German families
> named WINGENDORFF "had a town named after them."
More likely it was the other way around. Unless you think that
someone's name should be "swamp village"!
This is all complicated, though, by the fact that there is more than
one Wingendorf in Germany.
--
=Jim Eggert Egg...@LL.mit.edu
Alan Jeddeloh
> Family lore tells me that one of my ancestral German families
> named WINGENDORFF "had a town named after them."
>
> Germany (east of Ihlefeld and west-northwest of Mihla, if
> Mapquest is correct). There are also at least three towns
> named WINGENDORF (with one 'F').
>
> If the town of WINGENDORFF was named after my ancestor, how might
> this have happened? Did it happen often?
It is entirly possible there is a town "named" after the ancestor, but more
likely the ancestor is named after the town.
I know the latter to be true for my family name --- there are two villages
between Oldenburg and Edewecht named "Jeddeloh I" and "Jeddeloh II." Not
surprizingly, the area is thick with Jeddeloh's and zu Jeddeloh's. The name
is fairly rare outside the area.
The current Hausmann J. D. zu Jeddeloh had the family name researched a number
of years ago; the name can be traced back to the 1500's. He operates a large
commercial nursery, and originated a dwarf hemlock variety, tsuga Canadensis
"Jeddeloh", the family tree :-).
-Alan Jeddeloh H:(503) 292-9740 W: (503) 350-6427
al...@kentrox.com
The guy who said "The only things certain in life are death and taxes"
didn't do the laundry in a family with small children.
Michael Glueckert
>
> Family lore tells me that one of my ancestral German families
> named WINGENDORFF "had a town named after them."
>
> And, it seems, there is a town named WINGENDORFF in present-day
> Germany (east of Ihlefeld and west-northwest of Mihla, if
> Mapquest is correct). There are also at least three towns
> named WINGENDORF (with one 'F').
Wasn't there a remark that mapquest puts its star in the center of the
country if it cannot find the place? Looks much like you localized that
spot.
The area where you "found" a location Wingendorff covers the districts of
99826 Mihla, 99986 Kammerforst, and 99947 Craula, in none of them a hamlet
Wingendorff is mentioned.
The 3 Wingendorf are
09569 Frankenstein Wingendorf
01825 Liebstadt Wingendorf
57548 Kirchen Wingendorf.
> If the town of WINGENDORFF was named after my ancestor, how might
> this have happened? Did it happen often?
The naming practice indicates rather the other way round: If you speak
about the miller from A-dorf and there is also a miller from B-dorf in
Germany often "miller, A-dorf" is used. His son and his grandson inherit
the mill and over generations the name of the location is connected to the
family name. Sometimes from such a naming practice the name of a location
became a family name.
There are 78 WINGENDORF entries in my phonebook concentrated around the
57xxx location (Rheinland), they may have a link to the last of the 3
mentioned locations Wingendorf.
>From the 4 WINGENDORFF 1 entry is also from the 5xxxx area and 3 are from
southern Germany.
Apparently the 2 Saxon locations Wingendorf (ZIP code 0xxxx) and even the
mysterious Thuringian one can be excluded for having a link with the
names.
($0.02)
Mike