Names

During the 17th and 18th centuries, multiple names were bestowed at birth or at christening. As a result, the children of peasants had many names because it was one of the few things for which there was no charge. In addition it was quite common to recycle a name if a child died very young. If there were two Johanns in a family, the most likely explanation would be that Johann was a common name to many (if not all) sons, which would be distinguished by a second given name, such as Karl, Friedrich, and so on. The second name was their common name or Ruffname. Whenever the use of the exact same name with both first and second names identical was found, the first bearer of the name had died before the other was born, or the elder Johann had stopped using his first name and was known by his second.

An example of why many German men dropped Johann from their name was provided by another genealogist. The oldest son was named Johann after a grandfather, father, or uncle named Johann. When the older man died, the younger Johann dropped that name, and he was called only by the second name by which he was baptized. To illustrate this point, we found one family with each of four sons with the first name of Johann and with a different second name.

History tells how lives of our ancestors were ravaged by death and disease. Babies and young children were often victims of contagious diseases and tragic accidents. Premature babies often went to their graves without names or any form of individual identification on their grave markers or church records. We were forced to assume parentage of these babies to discern proper family relationships.

In the German culture, the use of necronyms was only a means of preserving the naming pattern. Naming a newborn after a deceased child also paid tribute to the child who had died.

We have found that after emigration, our ancestors often reversed the order of their names. This practice might have been done to conform to the American practice of using the first name as the call name.

Some given names originated from the Bible as in John (Johann), Andrew, and David. These names were referred to as Christian names. Other names were drawn from important rulers like Augustus, the first Roman emperor or celebrated figures like Martin Luther, the German theologian and one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Prussian, French, British, Russian, and Austrian royalty greatly influenced the giving of names. During certain historical periods, new parents often paid homage to their kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses by adopting their noble names for their children, such as Frederick Wilhelm, after the Prussian ruler King Frederick Wilhelm, or Ferdinand, after one of the Kings Ferdinand.

A Christian name serves a dual purpose. The term, Christian name, is synonymous with given name or first name, whereas the surname is the family name or last name. In some Christian denominations a child’s given name is conferred on the child at its baptism, which is a Christian ritual. Sometimes the baptism itself is called the christening, although this terminology varies from one group to another.

In the 19th century, common male names such as Johann, Ferdinand, Friedrich, Karl, Wilhelm, Heinrich, and August were used repeatedly with many different combinations and spellings. Once in America, the German immigrants soon dropped the guttural German pronunciations and Johann became John; Wilhelm became William or Bill; Heinrich became Henry or Hank, and Friedrich became Frederick or Fred.

Women’s names of the period were derivatives of male names such as Louis, Wilhelm, Friedrich, and August. The most popular female names were Louise, Wilhelmine, Friedericke, Caroline, Auguste, and Marie, and these names were sometimes found with an e or an a ending. In our genealogical research, we found Wilhelmine as Wilhelmina, and sometimes shortened to Minnie or Mina; Ernestine was shortened to Tina, and Auguste was found as Augusta, or Gustie. In German that last e is not silent, so Auguste and Augusta were pronounced almost exactly the same. The a ending is Latinized and is more commonly found in the church registers kept in Latin. The e on the end was more fashionable as a result of French influence.

The practice of using the middle name seemed to be a common practice with many Germans. Often they would use the middle name as their first name. For Louisa Friedricke Sophie Bergin, her baptism record from Sankt Petrus Church in Buffalo, New York listed her name as Maria Louise Bergin. On a later record, her name was changed to Louisa Friedricke Sophie Bergin, the name that we used.

Many times we would come across different spellings, especially with surnames. We had to remember that it was only recently that the law required us to change our name through the court system.

What prompted these name changes, we will never know for sure. All we can do is to make a note of all the different spellings and where they were found. All of these common conventions make genealogy a challenging, as well as, a frustrating science.

Heuer Names and Other Variations

During this research variations in the spellings of the Heuer name include: Heuern, found in some of the earliest records of the Heuers where the n was added to the surname to denote feminine gender; Heir, the first United States Census in which the Heuers were counted was in 1860 where the head of the house was listed as Fred Heir age 51 years, born 1809 – place of birth – Germany; Hyer, from August and Fred’s military records; Hier, as shown on Catharina Sophia and/or Rosina’s death certificate; Heuyer, where Bertha Heuer Zastrow’s death certificate has her father’s last name as Heuyer; Heyer, where a recorded warranty deed dated 12 October 1864 shows Frederick’s name as Heyer when property was transferred from Peter Schiesser and his wife Barbara; Hirr, from Door County Courthouse birth records for children of Bertha Heuer; Hewer, according to a passenger list, a Wilhelmina Hewer arrived in the United States on a separate ship from her parents and siblings; Hoir, the Federal Census Report of 1860 reflects Ernestine working as a domestic at the A. J. Eveland home, and she was counted there as Tina Hoir; Hindr, from Kewaunee County Courthouse, Kewaunee, Wisconsin birth record for a child of Charles Yauger and Marie Heuer; Hauer, when Ernestine married Henry Gericke, her name was recorded as Anestina Hauer. This Hauer spelling was found again on a warranty deed dated 1 November 1859 in which Frederick purchased property. Yet, further into the same document, his name is correctly spelled as Heuer; and Hoyer, the maiden name given for mother (Wilhelmina Heuer Bergin) on the death certificate of her daughter, Wilhelmina Bergin Schmidt. The name was spelled Heuser on the manifest of the ship Laura when the family embarked for the voyage to America. August Ferdinand Heuer’s surname was spelled Hayer on the Civil War enrollment lists. Arnold Ferdinand Jacob Heuer’s surname was spelled Hruer on a warranty deed when he purchased the Dier farm. On Lydia Zastrow’s death certificate, her mother’s name, Bertha Heuer, was written as Bartha Hiar. On a warranty deed, Fred Heuer’s name was Highyer, on another it was spelled Higher, and on a deed issued on 26 May 1880, Fred’s last name was spelled Heyer and his wife, Anna Rosina Heuer’s last name was spelled Heier on the same document. The name Huer was misspelled on another property transaction to Fred Heuer on 12 December 1895 and the same misspelling appeared on an application for pension by Caroline Berndt Heuer. Caroline also had her surname misspelled Hager on another application for pension. On a Bond of Support given by Arnold Ferdinand Jacob Heuer to his father, Fred, Arnold’s name was spelled Hener. Other spellings found were: Heur, Hora, Herr, Heer, Ojer, Ahr, Uhr, Hare, Heuerer, Auer, Heverer, Hower, Huier, and Heuier. There are probably others.

County courthouse records revealed many of the name changes and incorrect spellings. For example, the registration of August Heuer and Caroline Berndt’s marriage found in the Kewaunee County Courthouse marriage record #0081 dated May 1864 read, “August, son of Friedrich Heuer and mother Catharina,” which was her name given at her birth, her confirmation, and her marriage. In the registration for Ferdinand Heuer and Caroline Berndt Heuer’s marriage, Ferdinand’s mother is Catharina once again, found in the Kewaunee County Courthouse marriage record #0161. However, when her youngest son Frederick married, she was listed as Sophia, the name we most often see for her. The first time the name Sophie or Sophia appeared was on a ship passenger list. The surname Berndt was also found with numerous spellings. The spelling we chose to use in this book was used most frequently.

Records from different sources revealed many name and/or spelling changes. For instance, in the Ferdinand Heuer descendant line, his daughter Marie married Charles Yauger. When they married, the name Gauger was used in the Kewaunee County Courthouse marriage record. Sometime after that event, the name Gauger was changed to Yauger. The Kewaunee Enterprise newspaper account of Charles Yauger’s death announcement in October 1952 reflected the Gauger spelling. However, the Algoma Record-Herald newspaper report of his death revealed the Yauger spelling. This circumstance could have occurred through a misunderstanding of the name pronunciation, or it could have been intentional.

Raether was found in the ship passenger list as Rether. The name Stuebs was always written as Stübs, and sometimes found Stips, in German church records, and Brandt was frequently written as Brand. The name Stuth was found as Stute in St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church records. In some German references that name was also spelled Studt.

Another name change was found in the Ernestine Heuer Gericke line with the eldest son of Marvin Schiesser. In January 1980 he legally changed his name from Robert Marvin Schiesser to Robert John Thoreau.

In the Arnold Heuer family, there was a son, Orland, and a grandson, Ronald. Is it pure coincidence that these three names – Arnold, Orland, and Ronald – all have the same letters, but in different combinations?

From the time of Martin Heuer (1707 - 1771), Johann Friedrich Heuer’s great-grandfather, there was not a single Heuer in this line of descendancy who used the names Martin and David for their sons. These two names had appeared with almost alarming regularity up until then, generation after generation, from the middle of the 16th century in the records that were found. Now they were passed over through the remainder of the nineteenth century.

Suddenly in 1934, a long way into the twentieth century – four generations later – a first son was born to Orland Heuer and Gertrude nee Zimmerman. He was named Martin Frederick Heuer. A year later in 1935, a second son was born to the same couple. The name given to him was David Arnold Heuer. No one involved in the selection of these names was even remotely aware of the history of the Heuer family at that time and the numerous usage’s of given names of Martin and David. To add further irony, the birth date of David Heuer of 16 October 1783 was the same date for Martin born 16 October 1934.

Alvin and Loretta nee Marquardt Heuer had two daughters whom they named Carolyn and Dorothy. Almost every Heuer family with daughters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had at least one Caroline and/or Dorothea. There is no answer for these phenomena. Some genealogists would argue that names are buried deep in our psyche and resurface periodically.

At any rate, we feel unique and wonderfully fortunate to have been the generation to bring these names back and to be the persons to make this record of those gone before us.

Meaning of Names

Until about 1100 A D most people in Europe had only one name which may still be the case in some primitive countries today. As the population increased, it became awkward to live in a village where perhaps one-third of the males was named Johann, another sizable percentage named Wilhelm, and so forth. To distinguish one Johann from another, a second name was needed.

Individual surnames originated for the purpose of more specific identification. During that period, four primary sources for second names were based on a person’s occupation, location, father’s name and personal characteristics.

For their occupation, the farmer, day laborer, weaver, rope maker, woodcutter, grain grinder and suit maker might be named respectively, Johann Ackermann, Johann Hofmann, Johann Weber, Johann Seiler, Johann Sawyer, Johann Miller, and Johann Schrader. It can be said that the most ancient and most interesting surnames are those derived from the occupation of the original bearer. Occupational names have provided what has been described by scholars as, “an inventory of the common trades of medieval Europe.” Such names offer a glimpse into the daily lives of our ancestors. An example of location might be interpreted in their name as, the Johann who lived over the hill became known as Johann Overhill, the one who dwelled near a stream might be named Johann Brook or perhaps Johann Atbrook.

Many of the surnames can be recognized by the termination of the father’s name – the son of, such as Christianson, Williamson, or Johannson. Personal characteristics which described the person might be used as their surname. An unusually small person might be labeled Small, Short, Little, or Lytle. A large man might be named Longfellow, Large, Lang, Langely or Long. Many persons having characteristics of a certain animal would be given the animal’s name. For example, a sly person might be named Fox; a good swimmer, Fish; or a quiet man, Dove.

The German family surname Heuer is classified as being of occupational origin. Heuer is derived from the Middle High German “höuwer” and means a hay farmer or hay mower, and is believed to be associated with one who made or sold hay. In year 1372, a Konstanz, Germany Heuer had arms of a rake and a pitchfork in its seal. It is also possible that this surname is derived from the Old High German verb “höuwen” meaning to chop or hack. In this case, the name denotes one who chops, such as a butcher, a woodcutter or a stonemason. Different spellings of the same original surname were a common occurrence and dependent on location. Low German, frequently in the Heidelburg, Germany area, pronunciation and spelling was Hauer or Hoyer.

Another possibility is the German term for a day laborer or hireling occupation was Heuerling, and Heuer may be a derivative. Other interpretations are that Heuer means, this day, this year, or pay that a merchant marine receives. Dictionaries of surnames indicate probable spelling variations. The most prominent variations of Heuer are Hewer, Hewar, Heyer, Hayer, and Hoyer, although as indicated previously, we have encountered many more in this genealogical research.

Pronouncing the name Heuer can result in as many variations as the spelling. In German, the word for fire is Feuer and pronounced “foyer.” It follows that the Prussian/German name Heuer was pronounced “Hoyer” by the immigrant families, relatives, and friends as they conversed in the German language almost exclusively in the early years. Even church services were conducted in German. But Heuer is a very difficult name to pronounce by people who are unfamiliar with the German language. The pronunciation produces many varieties and one who has that surname is frequently forced to spell it every time a new contact is made. Fortunately, it is a short name, but even when spelling it for people they usually cannot record it correctly because there are few English words that have an e followed by a u, followed by an e, and then an r.

Some of the few Heuer’s encountered in other parts of the country pronounce their names “Hewer.” The acceptance of that pronunciation was a result of them settling in an area where few other Germans lived. The name was pronounced like it looked – “He-u-er” – Hewer, and that is how the name evolved in that instance. Others changed the German spelling – Heuer – to the German sound, in English, resulting in the name being changed to “Hoyer.” Yet another is “Hauer,” where the first e is replaced with an a to come closer to the German pronunciation. And the list of variations goes on and on.