San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-06-29
THE ORIGIN OF NAMES.


Some of the Most Common Come
From Odd and Obscure Sources.
From the Ohio State Journal.
In the Bible we often read of names
given In accordance with the con-
dition attending the birth Of q child.
The names OF the IONS of Jacob, by
their mothers, Leah and Rachel, are
marked examples. Samuel was so
named because he was asked of the
Lord; I-chabod, because The glory of
Israel is departed;' Jesus, because he
was to be "rhe Savior of the people,"
The mother.in.law of Ruth said Call
me not Noami (pleasantness), but
Marah( bitterness).
Lazarus, I was taught when q Sun
day-school scholar, meant very poor,
but now q great many good scholars
say il means "Blest of GOd," but
others equally learned say that 1T
means q helpless person, but not
necessarily poor. We In Columbus
will accept the translation "Blest OF
GOd.n
Our indians are named from CIR
cumstance. For instance, Running
Brook, because born by q brook; Rain.
ia-the.Face, because rain leaked
through the tent; Bright Eyes, pc,
cause the luster Of her eyes suggested
Sthe name.
The young braves at from 16 to 20
years of age take names that suit
their fancy or according to sone deed
or event In their lives, as Black
Hawk, Sitting Bull, Man.afraid.of.
thi.Horses, etc.
Cinnamon are named from the To-
,catltv "a which they were raised; Lee
"A a division of China; hence we nave
Wing Lee. All Lee, Sam Lee, etc.
The same thing occurs in France 10 9
great extent. Among the lsraeiites
AZ The son of. The son of Nun, son
NJ Jsbat the son of Judah, etc.
Among the Scandinavians 1t is very
common to speak Of . man or BOY as
the son of Gustavus, etc. This GUS
tom has given us today . large CLASS
of names as Brunson, Davidson.
johnson, Thompson, stephenson aau
many others which'may nave aI.
in this way. Several 0 hs.ng
ia the same nelghborhooo al nSso
sons. These boys are Knowu 90
cobson, Charleston, Samson, wnionl
course of time becomes Inc surh0"o
of their branch of the family.
We have another large CLASS, nos'-
Iy of German derivation, whlcn con'
sist of some relation, duty, 0ccupa-
ton or quality with the amx mau
from the, German Manu- for OK
ample, Altman, alte. old-an DC msh
probably with q young wiie. nau-
mann from Baum, q tree; nence .
man who owns or tends TO treee. Dow
man is q corruption. ,ulau,
GRAY; probably q prematureIy
gray. Hoffman, from hon, q aW9
q man who owns or keeps . lawn. "
is spell, d different ways, Harman,
properly Hermann from herr. (rhe
German e is pronounced Inc
nearest synonym is mister, u tne
Germans only apply it to one OF hlgh-
or rank. Tne employer herr .othe
employe; the officer is Hertz those
upder him; the Emperor Is Herr TO
all Germany, but no one Is heir 70
him. We whose names are derived
from Hermann may feel assured that
we are descended from more or less
NOBLE ancestry. kaufman, from kau.
fen, to sell, q merchant; this Is cor
rupted to Coff or Cofman. Hoffman,
from holtz, neck; the relation assign
able TO see. Ackers and Alderman,
acker, acre; q man of acres, a large
farmer. Lehman, q man VINO lepus;
he makes q good neighbor. Stein
man, stein, q stone; q man VINO cuts
or deals in stone. steiner is q stone
cutter or macon. thinner, a room;
Zimmerman. room puiluer'
a carpsn ter. Barg, Berger,
Barger; berg, q mountain, n
stitutes a large class. Bergman,
mountaineer. H~elmberger, home In
the mountains. Steinberg, a stone
mountain man who lives near OF
on the stone mountain. Lichten berg
or Leuchtenberg, a light in d noun
tains.
Then there is another class con
nected with the word meyer, a farm
or, from which we have myer, meyer
MAYER, myres, etc. We nave Good
myer, 0bermyer, Bushmyer,
brushy farmer. There is anothel
large class OF names derived from thu
occupations Of our ancestores, as Car
penter, Schmaker, Shuman, make
OF shoes; Shunammer, Shulemeister
a school teacher; Baumeister, or mas
ter, a wood worker. Shriner ant
: Tishler, q cabinet maker, Fen
etemaker, q window maker; Rich
ter, a judge; Mohler and Moeller
a miller. III this group we find tn
Smith family, which Is so numerou
because there are so many trades tina
end with Smith-trades too that ar
so useful and in which so many ar
engaged; the German Schmidt, tn
equivalent OF Smith, in q generation
or two is Americanized TO Smith. 3
two nations contribute to the family