n172 Old Judge Pretzels "Getzien/Cetzein" Joke Card

[novakjr]

Last names were gotten wrong all the time wile immigrating. Sometimes names were shortened, added to or simply mis-spelled. Try Getzen, Getzendiner, Getzendanner, Getzendaner, Getzenberg. There's a good number of each all over facebook..

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by novakjr

Last names were gotten wrong all the time wile immigrating. Sometimes names were shortened, added to or simply mis-spelled. Try Getzen, Getzendiner, Getzendanner, Getzendaner, Getzenberg. There's a good number of each all over facebook..

I have two different names in my family that were changed to match(not on purpose) names already in my family.

Don't know the original names off-hand but one was a Polish name changed to Sykes, while the other was changed to Phelan. My grandfather's mother and brother-in-law had the same last name in the US but the in-law had a different name before coming overseas and they're not even from the same country. Then his sister married someone with the name Phelan, while his brother had a child with someone whose name was changed to Phelan in the US, again, not related and not the same country.

So basically, good luck with tracing that name once it got here.

[cyseymour]

My name is also an immigration name, so I know all about it.

Based on the German pronunciations, my best guess is still that Getzen/Getzien/Getsein were originally derived from "Gottsein". Maybe some of you have other ideas. Are there any German speakers on the board?

[z28jd]

Seriously, if anyone does speak German, tell me how you would pronounce my last name, Dreker. My family says it two different ways. We actually put the Dreker/Dreker family reunion on the note during our last gathering as a joke.

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by z28jd

Seriously, if anyone does speak German, tell me how you would pronounce my last name, Dreker. My family says it two different ways. We actually put the Dreker/Dreker family reunion on the note during our last gathering as a joke.

Ha! I grew up in a family where my mother and father each pronounced our last name differently. I trusted my mother, of course, but after some study I believe my father's pronunciation is probably correct.