The recent mention of the Orange Co. (Virginia, that is) tithe list for 1739 set me to thinking about some of the names there. This in turn brought me around to my theory of convergent evolution. Now I am talking about names, not species. The theory is not novel and many people have observed the same result.
When the English wrote a German name, or even when they pronounced it, they were apt to use an English name which was fairly close to the German name. Eventually, even the Germans adopted the English spelling and pronunciation. Thus two names, one English and one German, which might have little in common originally, converge to one name. Not surprisingly, in a community dominated by the English, at least in the record keeping, it is the English name toward which the gravitation takes place.
My favorite example is the name Barlow, a perfectly honest English name. Now there was a Germanna family who became known as Barlow but who had German origins. When spelled, the original difference may seem striking. For example, the original German name was Parlur or something similar to this. The German "P" often sounds like the English "B" so the substitution of the "B" is common. In the course of time, the German name gravitated toward the better known Barlow until even the Germans were called Barlows.
I believe there was a German Slater (though this was probably not the original spelling) who became known as Slaughter. For example, D.R. Carpenter's map of early Madison Co. patents shows a George Slaughter. I believe this was another case of convergent evolution. There were several English Slaughters then and now. But I think one or more Germans have entered the Slaughter name pool.
The net result is that one cannot be sure what the national origin was solely on the basis of the present day name. Yet I encounter, as you probably have, people who insist that their family must be English because the name is English. I feel a little sorry for them for a variety of reasons but mostly because their research is apt to lead to blind alleys.
Spilman is another Germanna name which is also an English name. Serious arguments have arisen because some people refuse to consider that there are at least two options for the source of this name.
Some names, such as Garrett, have a counterpart in many languages. The German "Gerhard" leads naturally to Garrett (one instance of this occurred in the Germanna group). But other nationalities also have counterparts. Possibly Garriott comes from the Flemish language. It was an effort to keep this spelling alive and well. In some cases, the owners threw the towel in and adopted Garrett. But most Garretts recognize that the possession of this name does not imply any one nationality.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.