[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Jewish surnames; was Re: Germans speaking...

[Jerry Frank]

This issue of "Jewish surnames" comes up now and again.  While it is 
certainly possible that some of our Volhynian Germans could have 
Jewish roots, the odds are against it.  Jews did not have surnames 
until forced to do so in the Napoleonic era of the late 1700s.  There 
is a far greater chance that a Jew adapted or adopted your Germanic 
surname than the other way around.

For an excellent discussion on this topic, see 
http://www.jewfaq.org/jnames.htm


Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca



At 09:00 AM 03/11/2005, Barbara Cooper wrote:
>Vera-Lynne,
>Thanks for you reply.  There has never been any indication of the family
>roots being Jewish but you never know.  The Gepperts and Zells show up in
>the SGGEE database in Lutheran records  and other than my GGGrandfather
>Daelick they were all apparently devout Lutherans.
>
>Barbara
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Vera-Lynne Benson" <VeraLynneB at netscape.net>
>To: ""Barbara Cooper"" <bdaelick at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 9:39 PM
>Subject: RE: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Germans speaking...
>
>
> > have you ever thought your family may be from Jewish roots?
> > just a quick look at your names....for instance, Klein, Geppert, Lemke,
> > Zell, are Jewish names.   - vl
> >