Celtic father-names: Donaldson, McDonald, O’Donnell
The main Celtic traditions for genealogy are the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh. Complicating matters, Irish settlers brought Gaelic from
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Pamela Israel
- Mar 8, 2020
- 3 min
Like Daughter, Like Mother: Transatlantic Journey
Christine makes the journey across the Atlantic in 1950. Her daughter in Germany worries that her frail mother might not be strong enough.
75 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 2, 2020
- 4 min
Understanding -Sen and -Son in a Name: Johnson, Janson and Jansen
Why do some family names end in -son and some in -sen?
7,014 views
Stefan Israel
- Feb 10, 2020
- 2 min
Dutch and Deutsch: so similar, so dissimilar
We’d talked about how much the German dialects vary, looking at dialect forms of the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s compare High German and Dutch.
597 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 29, 2020
- 2 min
AUGH! From German to English
AUGH! It’s not just a cry of distress, it’s an anglicization. Why do we see lots of names ending in -augh? Baugh, Grumbaugh, Brumbaugh?
601 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 27, 2020
- 1 min
Mozart and the Founding Fathers
In honor of Mozart's birthday on January 27th, we look to a curious Mozart connection or two crossing the Atlantic.
1,867 views
Pamela Israel
- Jan 21, 2020
- 2 min
Milestones Unlocked
I noticed that our next published blog would be #60. We've accomplished so much. Translations. Genealogy. Blogs. Presentations.
75 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 10, 2020
- 3 min
German Dialects, Names & More
German has developed a lot of dialects. How different are they? Platt and Schwyzerdütsch differ from the standard High German the most.
728 views
Pamela Israel
- Dec 23, 2019
- 2 min
Little Christmas spirits with the Christmas spirit
How to express Yule-tide greetings in German and the Scandinavian countries - inspired by 1960s postcards. Plus examples of some Scandinavia
63 views
Pamela Israel
- Dec 13, 2019
- 3 min
1960 Christmas Card Mystery
Why were there piles of Christmas cards from 1960 sent from around the world to a young girl in Virginia?
174 views
Stefan Israel
- Nov 6, 2019
- 7 min
Ancestors in the Internet
A Google search finds a family letter in an overseas archive showing Alois in San Francisco and corresponding with a well-known anarchist.
127 views
Stefan Israel
- Oct 16, 2019
- 3 min
Low German, High German, Upper German- what is all that?
Are German dialects really more extreme than American dialects?
Are they ever! The Old World dialects in general are far, far more extreme t
6,904 views
Stefan Israel
- Oct 7, 2019
- 2 min
German in English I
Gesundheit! Bless you? In the American melting pot, you hear bits of the various ingredients still in the mix. Here are a few examples of Ge
197 views
Pamela Israel
- Sep 19, 2019
- 3 min
Washing & Sewing: A Diary & Tins
Sewing, in addition to laundry, used to be a responsibility that almost every woman had. And yet it can be tough to get insights into this p
74 views
Pamela Israel
- Aug 31, 2019
- 2 min
Chicago. German Painter. White City.
It’s 1893. Chicago. Full of ambitious people eager to make their mark. Twenty-five year old Alois, trained in decorative carpentry and paint
74 views
Stefan Israel
- Aug 5, 2019
- 3 min
Dutchland? Germany?
The tribes that coalesced into Germans spoke 'the people’s/ popular language’ as opposed to Latin
5,110 views
Pamela Israel
- Jul 26, 2019
- 2 min
Why Do We Say Germany (& Not Deutschland)?
Not long ago, a friend asked me why we say Germany when the Germans use the word Deutschland. The words aren't even related! Good quest
3,877 views
Stefan Israel
- Jun 24, 2019
- 2 min
The Siegfried Idyll gift
In honor of his son's third birthday, Wagner wrote an Idyll. Learn the story behind its first performance.
87 views
Stefan Israel
- Jun 5, 2019
- 4 min
The Mystery of the Old "S" Explained
What on earth is going on with those letters? The s looks like an f !It sure does. I hope you never need those last couple of sentences. Old
2,644 views
Pamela Israel
- May 22, 2019
- 3 min
Old German Writing Tips
Here are a couple tricks to help decipher old German handwriting, Kurrent or Suetterlin, especially important with old family letters.
1,602 views
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