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Wed 9 Feb, 2005 06:39 pm
i was wondering if anyone could help me with this.....german names...such as johan wilhem....would change to what in english? and once in america.....(philadelphia from germany).....would the first name be dropped and the middle name changed to william?
and how would the name bosler be spelled/prenounced in german?
any info or if you could point me in the right direction to find answers to these questions i would appreciate that too!! thanks.
It varies with an individual. I have been told stories of when my ancestors came to America. The folks at Ellis Island did not understand some of the foreign names, and so they wrote down something that sounded like it, but was familiar to them.
Nowadays, many people will keep the names that they were born with when they emigrate to America.
Johann Wilhelm= "John William"
I would hazard a guess that a Johann Wilhelm Bosler would have anglicized into "John William Bosler."
Moreover, the pronunciation of "Bosler" would be close to "Bohsslah" in the German.
Hope this helps.
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