For a lighter diversion, let's look at the first names given to children at the German Lutheran Church in the Robinson River Valley, in the period from 1750 to 1775. The baptismal register generally shows the children received only one name. If they received two, I have used the second or "Rufnamen", the calling name. Ranked in order of popularity, the clear winner is Elizabeth (I will use English spellings). In order of frequency of use, they are:
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Many in this set of names were common among the immigrants.
Many of the German spellings duplicate the English spellings, such as Barbara and Daniel, or they are close to them. Some that are further apart are Ludwig and Lewis, Friederich and Frederick, or Heinrich and Henry. I was amazed at the diversity in the choice of names. About sixty names are used.
(19 Aug 03)
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.