Besides written records, onomastics ( the science and study of the origins and forms of proper names of persons and places) may be used to study and interpret the historical, linguistic and cultural development of an area. Slavic tribes living in isolation fostered dialects, whose particularisms were reflected in names. As tribes moved to new locations, new names were coined.
The Christianization of the Sorbs undoubtedly resulted in the adoption of some Christian names. Germanization, without a doubt, also had an impact on names. The spelling of names were altered by changing conditions, environment and the like. A person need not be overly concerned by variant spelling because people who recorded names in early records often spelled names by what they thought they heard.
Immediately after World War II the writer became acquainted with a geologist in Midland, Texas, who had a good knowledge of the German language. He told me that while working with a geophysical crew near Giddings, Texas, he ran across some people who said their ancestors came from Germany, but had rather unusual names. He said that names, such as Moerbe, Kieschnick, Miertschin, Symmank, etc., were not German. In the course of our conversation I pointed out that these names did indeed originate in Germany and that he could add my own name of Biar to the list. People with these names were Wendish. Some were Germanized, some were Slavic, while others were derivations of Wendish and German names.
Listed below are some examples of names of Texas Wends followed by the Wendish or Sorbian forms and their meaning:
Dube – Duba: oak tree
Kieschnick – Kéčnik: cotter or cottager
Lehmann – Wičaz: vassal
Moerbe – Mjerwa: disorderly or tangled straw
Schmidt – Kowar: smith or blacksmith
Schneider – Krawc (Krautz): tailor
Of course, not everyone who has the surname of Lehmann, Schmidt or Schneider is of Wendish or Slavic ancestry. Many Wends assumed German names which are translations of their of Wendish names.
Listed below are some examples of names of Texas Wends and what they mean:
Biehle (Biele): white
Noack: new man or Noah
Michalk (Michałk): little Michael
Malke (Małke): little, small or short (Klein in German)
Niemtschk: German (When the Wends first met the Germans they could not understand their language and called them dumb.
Wuensche: the Wend
Wukasch (Łukaške): Luke (in German Lucas)
Listed below are some examples of names of Texas Wends which are derivations of German names or were taken into the Wendish language from the German.
Biar: taken into the Wendish language from the German “Baehr” (or Bär), meaning “bear.” Other forms are Bjar, Bihar and Biehar.
Handrick: derivation from Andrew (in German Andreas)
Miertschin: derivation from Martin (in Sorbian Merčin)
Patschke: derivation from Paul
Simmank and Symmank: derivation from Simon, meaning little Simon
Zieschang: derivation from Christian (Kristian)
Some Wends have the surname Urban. It is believed by some that the Biblical name Urban (Urbane or Urbanus) [Romans 16: 9] was adopted by some when they became Christians. DeBray in his book Guide to Slavonic Languages states: “Vowels [in Sorbian] occur initially only in exclamations and words of foreign origin.” This explains the variant spelling of Urban: Hurban, Urban and Yurban, in some records. This also explains why the initial letter of Handrick is h. That is also the reason why Amen is Hamen in Sorbian.
My husband’s great grandfather, Robert Hendreschke, was a Wendish immigrant to the US in the 1860’s. He first immigrated to the northeast and worked in a textile mill before returning to Germany to assist another migrating group. His travels ended in Nebraska and Colorado.
Is the Groth family name Wendish
Hi Annette,
It is difficult to determine if a name is Wendish without more information, like where in Europe did the ancestor come from? If you would like to continue this discussion off line, my email is 49weldon72@gmail.com. Weldon Mersiovsky
Can you help me figure out my grandmother’s maiden name equivalent in English?
She was born in Forst-Lausitz, Brandenburg in 1910. This was an important textile town in Lower Sorbia, but there’s a chance her family migrated there from Upper Sorbia to work in the textile mills.
The name is Dommaschk.
I studied some Russian in the early 1990s and then realized dom means home in Slavic languages. Then I read the above notes on Wendish/Sorbian names and started to wonder if It might be a name derived from Thomas, meaning perhaps, Little Thomas?
Thanks for any and all help!
Is the name Klausch/Kolske/Kolski
Is this a Wendish name?
Individual needs this information.
My 4x great grandparents were Julia (Julie) Tritala Dreithaler (Drytilar) (Dradoller) (Dradeller) and Herman (Hermann) (Heirmon) K Hübner (Huebner) (Heibener). I believe they were born in Coblenz, Saxony, which is in the Göda district, which is in Lusatia. Its Wendish name is Koblicy. I believe they immigrated in 1853 or sometime around them.
Do you know if these names are Wendish or German? I find it weird that they had so many different spellings of their names, I know that Hermann Hübner was probably his German name, and Herman Huebner was probably his American name, but I’m not sure what Heirmon and Heibener are. I also don’t know what Julia’s middle name Tritala and the spellings of her last name are.
Any Information you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
I have the same problem! Tchecke, Teschke and Jeschke. Help!
Our last name is Jeschke. My grandfather emmigrated from Ostewitz Germany in 1903 into Galveston Texas