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Archiver > APG > 2009-02 > 1233889832


From: Ida Skarson McCormick <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Anglicizing Dutch Names
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:10:32 -0800
References: <22860554.1233884164405.JavaMail.root@elwamui-polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
In-Reply-To: <22860554.1233884164405.JavaMail.root@elwamui-polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>


Jane:

Yes, I'm sure the makeup of the community at large made a difference
in what names were given children. Factors involved would be the
time period, the distance between like groups of immigrants, the ease
or difficulty of communication and travel between the groups, the
diversity of other cultures present with multiple languages, and
whether English language and culture were dominant. The presence or
absence of a church where preaching and teaching in the old language
took place would make a big difference. Parental attitudes of
immigrants toward assimilation were important. Marrying out of the
immigrant group occurred much more rapidly the smaller the number of
families involved in the group, and that had a dramatic effect on the
naming of children. That's why my brother and I are not named for
grandparents.

--Ida Skarson McCormick, , Seattle

At 05:36 PM 2/5/2009, Jane <> wrote:
>Reading these comments has got me wondering, maybe someone else has
>a different perspective --
>How much would the makeup of new community affect the name
>chosen? My Dutch ancestors all came over and settled in and around
>Holland, Michigan - no big change there - many neighbors knew the
>old names. I see "Olivia" as very foreign in that community! And
>just did a quick search of the given name only in 1860-70 census and
>found very few Olivia's there, all with what are pretty "English"y names.
>On the other hand, moving to a more diverse community, or one with
>at least a different ethnic majority, would make a difference, I would guess.

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