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#Post#: 15666--------------------------------------------------
Maps of common last names
By: Susan Date: May 17, 2019, 11:56 pm
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I thought this map was interesting because it made me think
about the ethnicities in the U.S.
HTML https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/files/2014/12/Surname-Map-1.png
I started trying to think of what the ethnicities of the names
are. I believe Smith, Williams, and Miller are of English
origin. California�s, New Mexico�s and Texas, most common
names are Hispanic. Surprising to me was that although Arizona
also is along the Mexican border, only one of the three most
common names were. The name Johnson isinteresting, because I
think it includes people of English descent, Germanic descent,
and Nordic descent. When immigrants came through Ellis Island
the workers wrote the names down and my understanding is that
many of the Johansons, Jansons, and Jannsons suddenly became
Johnson. You can see the concentration of Scandinavian names
along the Norther Border, although my understanding is that
Anderson could have been either the English version (son of
Andrew) or the Scandinavian version (son of Anders.) I believe
you see some names that more commonly were Scottish or Irish in
the far NorthEast of the country-- Brown, Sullivan.
At first, I thought this type of map might be unique for the
United States-- but it looks like similar maps are used in
geneology.
HTML https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Surname_Distribution_Maps
Can you teach me about what the map for your country, state, or
region might tell you about ethnicity and immigration patterns?
(Especially I am really pretty foggy on the which are English
names, which are Scottish names, and which are Irish names--
maybe because there was earlier immigration between them before
the U.S. was founded.
#Post#: 15669--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: SuKi Date: May 18, 2019, 2:09 am
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Thanks for posting this - very interesting.
My two penn'orth on the European names:
I'm sure that the prevalence of Millers and Andersons among
Americans is the result of German and Scandinavian immigration.
When you compare British and US surnames, one thing that you
notice is that these two supposedly 'English' names are
considerably commoner in the US than in the UK. While Smith,
Jones, Brown and so on share more or less the same top billing
in both countries, Miller and Anderson rank much higher in the
US than in the UK.
'Miller' is among the top 3 in several US states, while it's
only around the 50th commonest name in Britain. This can only be
explained by looking at Germany - 'M�ller' is far and away the
commonest name for Germans (about 1 in every 100 Germans is a
M�ller), which surely accounts for the vast numbers of Millers
in the US.
'Anderson' is fairly common in Scotland but less so elsewhere in
the UK (also around 50th overall) so it seems fairly certain
that the numbers have been swelled by Scandinavians. Likewise
Johnson - a common but certainly not top name in the UK overall.
All the Scandinavians and Dutch with names like Janssen and
suchlike almost certainly morphed into additional Johnsons.
And of course, all the Schmidts, as well as a fair few Kov�cs
and Kowalskis, probably also added their numbers to overall
tally of Smiths.
By the way, most English surnames ending in 's' are Welsh in
origin: Jones, Williams, Davies, Evans and so on.
#Post#: 15670--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Alharacas Date: May 18, 2019, 4:13 am
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I'm sure SuKi is right about lots of German M�llers swelling the
ranks of US Millers, and I believe this is equally true for the
Smiths and the Browns.
While there are really only two variations of "Miller" in
German, both with funny dots on the first vowel (M�ller,
M�ller), and while M�ller does lead the list of the most
frequent German names, there are lots of ways of spelling
"Smith" (Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmied, Schmiedt, etc.), so many, in
fact, that if you lumped them all together, the equivalent of
"Smith" would be the most frequent of all German names.
"Braun" comes up as number 21 on the list of most frequent
German names, plus there is only one way of spelling it, so I'm
sure there are also lots of US citizens with German ancestry
among the Browns.
Source:
HTML https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_h%C3%A4ufigsten_Familiennamen_in_Deutschland
I would have liked to see a similar map for Germany, but
couldn't find any. There are only maps which will show you the
frequency of one particular name.
#Post#: 15671--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Susan Date: May 18, 2019, 4:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thank you so much for that information, Suki (and Alharacas-- I
just read your post when I posted this.) I do not know why it
never occurred to me that Miller, was probably often M�eller. I
believe my own current last name, from my husband�s German
ancestors, probably had a �, because I see basically the same
name spelled with a �u�, and �ie�, or a �ue� and I think the
people at Ellis Island just were not consistent with what to do
with the � when they recorded the name. German Americans are
25% of the population of Kansas, families ofScottish and Irish
descent are the next most common, and Scandinavian descent is
around 5%, so it makes sense that Smith, Johnson, and Miller
are the most common names.
I went back and looked at the map again, and this time what
caught my eye were the states where the �Williams� were
congregated-- look at all those Southern states. What I thought
of was the many African Americans that I know with the last name
Williams. What I have heard is that African slaves often ended
up with the last name of a family who owned them. I found
these two articles to be interesting- in thinking about why
Welsh names, but particularly the name Williams, is so common in
the Southern states. (Our African American population continues
to be quite high in the Southern states. )
HTML https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-17295,00.html<br
/>
HTML https://www.moremarymatters.com/williams_generations.htm

#Post#: 15677--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Forest Date: May 18, 2019, 5:55 am
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It is very interesting that surnames show where American
ancestors came from. I wonder if Americans from other countries
still have their own countries' unique customs as they maintain
their identity through surnames, or unified in one American
culture. I think Americans look like American in physical
appearance. For example, I can tell Spanish from British or
Northern European from Eastern European with their looks.
However, Americans look like just Americans. Maybe due to mixed
blood.
By the way, Korea is a racially homogeneous country, even though
it's changing currently, so this topic is especially interesting
for me.
#Post#: 15680--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Alharacas Date: May 18, 2019, 7:47 am
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[quote author=SJ link=topic=1061.msg15677#msg15677
date=1558176904]
I wonder if Americans from other countries still have their own
countries' unique customs as they maintain their identity
through surnames, or unified in one American culture.
By the way, Korea is a racially homogeneous country, even though
it's changing currently, so this topic is especially interesting
for me.
[/quote]
Of course, I can't say much about the US, but from what I see in
Germany, this question is pretty much impossible to answer.
Degree and speed of assimilation (or lack thereof) vary
enormously, not just overall, but also within ethnic groups,
even within families. So much so, and depending on so many
factors, that I'd say it's mostly due to individual decision.
One thing I've noted, though, is that food, i.e. special, ethnic
dishes, seems to be about the last to go.
Mildly interesting anecdote: I'd known that part of my mother's
family had come from a region east of the German border (now
Poland), but I've only recently discovered that a special
dessert, served in my mother's childhood home on New Year's Eve,
is a variation of a traditional Polish Christmas dessert.
#Post#: 15681--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Nikola Date: May 18, 2019, 8:00 am
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@Susan
I just found a Czech website through the familysearch link you
provided. I didn't know it existed. I just tried looking up my
parents' surnames. My mum's maiden name is not very common so it
pointed directly to the area her father was from. My dad's
surname is very common and can be found everywhere but still,
there seems to be a "nest" and his part of the family comes from
there. It's really interesting.
#Post#: 15683--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: Forest Date: May 18, 2019, 8:17 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Now, I realize how silly I was when I asked if Americans who
have the diverse ethnic ancestors, have been assimilated into a
homogeneous American culture or still maintain their own customs
and cultures. Thank you for your answer, Alharacas. ^^
#Post#: 15685--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: NealC Date: May 18, 2019, 9:11 am
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Susan wrote:
"Surprising to me was that although Arizona also is along the
Mexican border, only one of the three most common names were
(mexican)."
I think Arizona is the 'Florida of the West', a lot of Northern
transplants and retirees. Too much walking through desolate and
dangerous desert to attract the majority of the latest
immigration, was not a prime location during earlier waves of
immigration because without the damming of the Colorado River I
am not sure how much population Arizona could support. Wasn't
Arizona the last state before Alaska and Hawaii?
#Post#: 15778--------------------------------------------------
Re: Maps of common last names
By: SHL Date: May 19, 2019, 10:16 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Susan link=topic=1061.msg15671#msg15671
date=1558171221]
Thank you so much for that information, Suki (and Alharacas-- I
just read your post when I posted this.) I do not know why it
never occurred to me that Miller, was probably often M�eller. I
believe my own current last name, from my husband�s German
ancestors, probably had a �, because I see basically the same
name spelled with a �u�, and �ie�, or a �ue� and I think the
people at Ellis Island just were not consistent with what to do
with the � when they recorded the name. German Americans are
25% of the population of Kansas, families ofScottish and Irish
descent are the next most common, and Scandinavian descent is
around 5%, so it makes sense that Smith, Johnson, and Miller
are the most common names.
I went back and looked at the map again, and this time what
caught my eye were the states where the �Williams� were
congregated-- look at all those Southern states. What I thought
of was the many African Americans that I know with the last name
Williams. What I have heard is that African slaves often ended
up with the last name of a family who owned them. I found
these two articles to be interesting- in thinking about why
Welsh names, but particularly the name Williams, is so common in
the Southern states. (Our African American population continues
to be quite high in the Southern states. )
HTML https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-17295,00.html<br
/>
HTML https://www.moremarymatters.com/williams_generations.htm

[/quote]
English doesn�t have an Umlaut, the little dots over certain
vowels, like in these German vowels: �, �, � (which is a reason
I use a German keyboard so I can have them). So, what English
did with names like M�ller to anglicize them in the US was to
just add an e after the vowel, so M�ller became Mueller. You can
still do this little trick in writing German if you have an
English keyboard, but it would drive me crazy having to do it.
I have seen people do it before by writing stuff like �Fuer�
instead of �f�r�, or �schoen� instead of �sch�n�, but I frankly
think it looks appalling. Take the name Boeing for example, the
creator of that bomb of an airplane, the 737Max. Or better yet,
that death trap some birdbrain put that MCAS on. My guess is
that the name Boeing was from Germany originally and was spelled
�B�ing�. I�m just guessing but I can imagine that. But,
�M�eller� is a spelling of that name I have never seen, because
to me it looks like overkill. I�m not saying it�s not possible,
but I�ve just never seen it. They might have spellings like that
in Scandinavian languages, but that�s the only thing I can
imagine.
Has anyone ever heard of the patronymic naming system? It�s
quite interesting actually. Germany had it at one time, at least
in Ostfriesland (East Friesland) where my mom�s maiden name is
from. Iceland still has this. I think Germany (or at least that
part) gave up on it around the 16th century, but it probably
continued until later in other parts of Germany. It�s a bit
confusing, but it�s sort of like when the father has a son, the
son gets whatever first name the parents want, but the last name
is the father�s first name with a �son� added to the end. A
daughter would get whatever first name the parents wanted, but
take the father�s first name as part of her last name as well,
only have a �daughter� added to it. So it would go like this I
suppose: Father is John Erickson. His son is William. Last name
becomes Johnson. So, the name is William Johnson. A daughter say
is named Mary. So she�s Mary Williamsdaughter. It sounds kind of
kooky, but that�s sort of how it goes. So, I suppose the
father�s father�s first name was Erick.
Like I said, Iceland still has this, but I doubt anyone notices
because the language is so different, with several different
characters and all.
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