Their pursuit of gardening pleasures adds a positive stereotype. I say historic, because depending on the timeframe, the percentages who said Dutch, German, Russian, etc. shifted substantially. During wartime, Dutch was favoured to a greater extent and in the subsequent years, German became more common. For many years, Mennonite births were recorded in Lutheran churchbooks until times became more lenient and Mennonite churches established. German tends to predominate over Dutch or other origins for those who consider this argument.
Folks tend to use family history knowledge to say that Mennonites are German.
Depends on the knowledge of when the particular family joined the Mennonite community, but tends to be German or Dutch. Language use English is probably the most predominant language used by Mennonites today because of its role in education and business and the fact that there are so many Mennonites living in North America. Folks tend to use this base to say that Mennonites are German. Knowledge of One's Surname's Origins Work by researchers like Victor Peters and W.J. Rempel help family historians go beyond their knowledge of their own families, and delve into the linguistic origins of the surnames. The origin of the name is occupational and refers to the man who trained the birds to hunt.