As others have pointed out, there was a considerable overlap between the given names of the English and the German families, perhaps even more than I had realized. Using a few Thomas families in Virginia of English origins:
John Thomas (1648-1710) married Elizabeth, with children William, Peter, John, Elizabeth, Jane, and Richard.Jane and Richard are not common German names, especially among the earliest Germans.
The son John was in Culpeper County (he died in 1782), and he had children William, Massey, John, Benjamin, Sarah, Margaret, and Ann.
Only the name Massey is a clue that the family might not be German.
The John in this family (the grandson of the original John) had children Jesse, George, Massey, William, Elisha, Betsy, Rhoda, and Jemima.
The first Massey mentioned had the family of Susanna, Massey, Jesse, Reuben, John, and William.
The latter William had a family of Elizabeth, Joel, Lewis, Ezekiel, William, Madison, Sarah, Mary, John, and Anne.
There is a considerable overlap with the names that the Germans gave their kids, though there are usually a few names in each generation which are a hint.
Richard was not popular with the Germans (this particular Richard had children Rowland, Catherine, Joseph, and Mary).
Massey seems to have its origins much earlier among the English.
Even the unusual names are not always a clue. A grandson of the German immigrant, John Carpenter, was named Cornelius. We have discussed the name Newton, which the Germans picked up, probably from the English, at an early date. I am not sure when it was first used by the Germans, or by whom it was first used. Nor are we sure as to why it was used. What we do know is that it was widely used.
In the " Garr Genealogy ", it is said that the father was in Virginia in 1849, and he obtained a report on the original Lewis Fisher family (with several errors) from Capt. A. Newton Finks. The claim is also made that the Lewis Fisher farm joined the Garr farm. This could have been possible as Lewis inherited land from his father-in-law, Balthasar Blankenbaker, who did have land adjacent to the Garrs. As one reads the book " Madison County Homes ", by Vee Dove, the name Newton is encountered in several places, usually as a given name but also as a surname. Apparently, there was an early Newton family in the Madison County area. Either through marriage, but perhaps because they liked the sound, the Germans adopted the name.
As a slight deviation, the Lorenz Gaar home, a log cabin, was built about 1740. According to Vee Dove, a slate at the home says that he was the first to own the land, followed by Benjamin Crisler, Nelson Crisler, Robert L. Gibbs, and, fifth, Newton W. Gibbs, who died in 1961. The Newtons are embedded in the German history more deeply than I understand.
(On one occasion, I had picked two homes in Madison County that I wanted to see, and I mentioned to Vee Dove that I wanted to see the old Lorenz Gaar home. Her book had not been out very long then but she had to tell me that the home had disappeared from Madison County to be reassembled in another county.)
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.