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| We are all fascinated by our names. |
I have the dubious distinction of having no middle name, not unusual for someone from an Amish family, but something I've often had to explain when filling out an official form. In my community it was customary for sons to use the first letter of their father's first name (mine was Ben) as their middle initial, which would have made me Harvey B. Yoder. But unlike my two brothers, I chose not to use a middle initial or name.
Meanwhile, here are some interesting things I've learned about some of the names in my family:
Yoder, an Americanized variation of Jöder (the German "J" is pronounced like our "Y"), is derived from Theodore, or Theodorus, the patron saint of the part of Switzerland most of my ancestors are from. Theodorus was a well known fifth century Catholic bishop in Westphalia, who according to one source was also an early missionary. Joderhügel (Yoder Hill) was one of numerous landmarks bearing his name, and as surnames came into more common use, many chose their location as a part of their name or title, as in Jacob von (from) Jöder.
Nisly, my mother's maiden name, is an Anglicized form of Nüsli, which refers to a small nut tree or "Nussbaum." Kniss is a related name, as are Nissley, Knicely and many other variants. Our Nisly is the only spelling of its kind, which means I'm probably related to every other Nisly on earth.
Miller is my paternal grandmother Elizabeth's maiden name. She died giving birth to her fourth child when my father was only three years old. Hers is an example of one of many surnames indicating an occupation.
Troyer, my maternal grandmother Fannie's maiden name, also relates to an occupation. Among her ancestors are David and Veronica Dreher, who appear more than once on both sides of my ancestral chart, and whose next generation of descendants adopted the anglicized "Troyer" as their surname. A "dreyer" is a "turner," one who works with a lathe, likely in making wood furniture. I have a number of local friends with the surname Turner.
Fannie was the name chosen for one of my older sisters in honor of her grandmother Fannie. To avoid confusion she was the only one of my siblings given a middle name, Mae. My sister never liked the name "Fannie" and insisted everyone call her Fannie Mae. Later in life I informed her that Fannie is a derivative of Veronica, the name of the ancestor mentioned in the former paragraph. In German, a "V" is pronounced like an "F" (as in Volkswagen, "folks-vagen," or "people's car"), so Veronicas were often nicknamed "Vreni" (Frennie) or "Fannie".
Harvey is not the name I would have chosen, but who gets to choose? I was named after one of my father's half brothers, Uncle Harv, who never lived in our community. He was a strict Old Order Amish who didn't approve of my parents' more progressive(?) ways. Then there's the 6-foot 3 1/2-inch pooka by that name in Mary Chase's well known play, and more recently, an infamous Harvey Weinstein, and a terrible and destructive Hurricane Harvey. But there are also lots of good folks named Harvey as well.
I hope I can be remembered as one of those!
Here are link to two other posts on my unusual family of origin:
https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-name-is-harvey-yoder-nisly-troyer.html
https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2014/05/grandfather-daniel-j-yoder-man-of.html
6 comments:
Interesting piece. We were always confused by my Dad's name which was Vernon U. Miller and we always thought it was an abbreviation for Uriah, which was his father's name. They tried to tell us no, it was just U, not Vernon Uriah Miller, which would have made more sense to us. Uriah's middle initial was M. and his father was Moses. So I guess it followed that pattern. Now here's the kicker. They named my brother Terry J. Miller, and the J. stands for absolutely nothing as far as I know. :-)
...interesting! An Amish friend of mine, Levi D. Miller (his father is David) become known as Levi D. L. Miller (his grandfather was Levi) because there were some many Levi D. Millers in his community. Another friend, Harvey Byler who is my age has 110 grandchildren and 9 of them are named Harvey. I find it interesting that in Hawaii names actually mean something. Take care my friend.
Interesting and fun post, Harvey. Some years ago Karl Jung speculated about the disproportionate number of people whose surnames seem to coincide with their careers or interests. More recently someone coined the term Nominative Determinism as a way of describing the phenomenon...which has actually spawned some semi-serious research. Wikipedia has a bit to say about it.
One correction, though. Our Theodorus (also Theoldul; now popularly Joder) was indeed a missionary/monk who came to establish the (Roman) church in the Alpine border region between what is now Italy and Switzerland in what is now Martigny, Switzerland (earlier Valais). I don't know of any record that places him in Westphalia. Theodorus was later appointed as Bishop of Octodurum and is known to have participated in the Council of Aquileia in 381. He was also a signatory to a letter to Pope Siricius in 360 informing him of their condemnation of the monk Jovinian and his followers. (There were actually three St. Joders that occupied the bishopric and it's confusing to always know which was which). Known for his compassion and as a worker of miracles, the first St. Joder seems to have attached a large and devoted following and was later "sainted". He is now known throughout the region as St. Joder. Switzerland still celebrates St. Joder day on both the Catholic and Reformed church calendars. Numerous places in Switzerland and the surrounding region still carry his name: an Alpine pass and a glacier to name just a few and several "Joder Cappella" can still be found in Switzerland. (See e.g. https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienT/Theodor_Teodul_von_Sitten.html ) His followers seem to have kept the name as they migrated northward over the next centuries into the Berenese Oberland where Joder/Yoders are still found. Steffisburg, in Canton Berne considers itself to be the "Heimatland" of all Joder/Yoders.
An interesting tidbit from bygone years in GAMEO (Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online) about Yoders. In "...1957 [of] the more than 180 ordained Yoders serving in Amish and Mennonite churches were represented in these groups: Old Order Amish, 99; Mennonite Church (MC), 58; Conservative Amish Mennonite, 14; Beachy Amish, 11; and General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM), 3. Thus the Yoder family has been the second most widely represented family in the ministry of the American Mennonite churches, being surpassed only by the Millers, who had 237 ordained men in 1957.
Thanks so much, cousin, for this additional information!
I have a great-grandfather named Ananias B Miller, his father having the 1st name of Benjamin. He spent his adult years in the small Amish area of Hydro and Thomas, Oklahoma. Curiously. there was actually another Ananias B Miller in the Amish community. So, colloquially, my GG-father became known as Ananias B. C. Miller, or in short form, just A. B. C. Miller.
Sanford Slabaugh
Sanford, According to "The Family Record of John T. Yoder and Anna Bontrager (Yoder) , my grandfather Daniel J. Yoder, oldest son of John T., and A.B.C. Miller moved by train from Gibson, Mississippi to Yoder, Kansas, where my dad, Benjamin, was born.
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