[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Dreger

[Günther Böhm]

MRNCE at aol.com schrieb:

>My ancestors were Semmler/Semler's.  Are these names really alternative 
>spellings for Semmler?
>
>>>Have noted that Dreger can be spelled Drager, Draeger, but am unsure as to why an alternative spelling could be Semler, Krecik, or Traeger.
>>>
>>>Is this because they >>sound the same or mean the same.
>>>
Hello Rick,
the surenames SEMLER and SEMMLER seem to be Polish resp. German spelling 
variants (in Polish there are no double consonants like in German. In 
German SEMLER would have to be pronounced with a long E which makes no 
sense). The name origin was definitely the profession of a roll baker; 
Semmel = roll. The word Semmel again derives from the Italian word 
semola = white flour. The names DRAEGER, DREGER or TRAEGER are 
completely different and indicate the profession of a porter, bearer, 
deliverer. The last "Traeger" you could find at railway stations (in 
Austria they were called "Dienstmann"). They offered to carry the the 
passengers's luggage. The spelling DRAEGER (A-diphthongue) is simply 
Lower German dialect.

A happy Easter,
Guenther
of Hilden, Germany