Keller	Knapp	Kastnern
Klar/Klaar	Kuhler	Klein
Kahler/Köhler	Klingenmeier/ Klingenmeyer	Keapffer/Kuifer
Kärner	Kleinheinz	Knapplen/Knapplin/ Knapplein/Knäppler
Kungman	Kull	Kranberger/Kramberger/ Kranberg/Kamberger/ Komberger/Kammberger
Klingmann	Krautzer	Klenbihl
Kleinheinz	Krenbühe	Klenbusch
Kober	Knuffl	Kremmet/Kummet/ Kümmet/Kemmet
Kuster/Küstner/ Kastner	Kein	Kuzfer
Kachel	Kuar	Kuhe/Kuhl
Kehl	Kurster	Kuon (Cuon?)
Kurzster/Kürstler	Kirschler	Kälb/Kalb/Kolb
Krebs	Knull	Kirn
Kustler	Kranfel	Klemm
Krauster

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In total there were about 360 names beginning with “ K ”.  Some of them occurred in every decade, such as Knapp.  Others occur only once and these may be errors on my part.

Some of the names seem to have many spellings, e.g., Kranberger, where six spellings seem to appear.  The Register or Index that was prepared had no space for a “ C ”, so one name which seemed to be spelled that way, Cuon, was entered in the “ K ” section.

In reading the names, the hardest part is in distinguishing the lowercase letters from each other.  The letters “ a ” and “ o ” are hard to distinguish.  The letters “ e ” and “ n ” are also hard to distinguish.  With a good magnifying glass, the letter “ r ” can usually be distinguished.  Umlauts and the “ u hook ” are difficult to distinguish.  The “ u hook ”, which is used to distinguish the “ u ” from the “ n ”, often seems to be indiscriminately used.

Many times the choice of how to read a letter was determined by:

1. Whether the resultant name looked German, i.e, Klingenmeier, or
2. By the reading in other locations.

Again, Klingenmeier is a good example, even though the last “ i ” was sometimes replaced by a “ y ”, with or without umlauts.  Except for this variation, it never appears any other way.  Some of the times it was written more clearly, and using these clearer expressions, one can reread and correct the doubtful expressions.

Besides the practice of reading the names, the list will help form a table of names that can be used as a reference in reading the original records.  Unfortunately, many of the names of the sponsors were from outside Gemmingen and may not appear in the list.

The names, Keapffer and Kuifer, which may or may not be same family, appear only once each.  Still, I wondered if they might be variations of Käfer, a Germanna name.  It does seem that in some cases the pastor was guessing at the name.
(01 Oct 04)