It’s funny ’cause it’s true. Die dingen zijn mij allemaal al min of meer overkomen:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR NAMES
- Thou shalt name your male children: James, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abel, Richard, Thomas, William
Ontelbare Augusten, Carolussen, Charlesen, Franciscussen, Henricusen, …
- Thou shalt name your female children: Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Maria, Sarah, Ida, Virginia, May
Overschotten aan Catherines, Isabelles, DUZENDE Joanna’s, …
- Thou shalt leave NO trace of your female children.
Praktisch alle vrouwen in Polen zijn onbekend op hun voornaam na.
- Thou shalt, after naming your children from the above lists, call them by strange nicknames such as: Ike, Eli, Polly, Dolly, Sukey.—making them difficult to trace.
Raad het maar: Mortka is Mordechai, Régine is Chaja-Riwa, …
- Thou shalt NOT use any middle names on any legal documents or census reports, and only where necessary, you may use only initials on legal documents.
Alle mannen in de achttiende eeuw heten Joannes Franciscus. Of Joannes Henricus. Of Carolus Franciscus. Of Carolus Henricus. Maar zo tekenen? Ho maar. Jan. Jean. Karel. Hendrik. J. H. K. JF. En dergelijke.
- Thou shalt learn to sign all documents illegibly so that your surname can be spelled, or misspelled, in various ways: Hicks, Hicks, Hix, Hixe, Hucks, Kicks
Geen last van, omdat er geen getekende documenten over zijn.
- Thou shalt, after no more then 3 generations, make sure that all family records are lost, misplaced, burned in a court house fire, or buried so that NO future trace of them can be found.
Nog beter: zorg ervoor dat de stadsarchieven van Ieper in twee opeenvolgende wereldoorlogen gebombardeerd zijn. En in Polen, de synagogen, ha, ha.
- Thou shalt propagate misleading legends, rumors, & vague innuendo regarding your place origination
Niet echt veel legenden in de familie, behalve dan de Verloren Amerikaanse Sierensen, en Elvira Bourtscheidt wiens vader een onwettig kind was in Pruisen, en die in de achttiende eeuw naar Gent is geëmigreerd.
- you may have come from : England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales….or Germany.
- you may have American Indian ancestry of the______tribe……
- You may have descended from one of three brothers that came over from______
- Thou shalt leave NO cemetery records, or headstones with legible names.
Check.
- Thou shalt leave NO family Bible with records of birth, marriages, or deaths.
Check.
- Thou shalt ALWAYS flip thy name around. If born James Albert, thou must make all the rest of thy records in the names of Albert, AJ, JA, AL, Bert, Bart, or Alfred.
Nope, geen last van.
- Thou must also flip thy parent’s names when making reference to them, although “Unknown” or a blank line is an acceptable alternative.
Geen probleem mee.
- Thou shalt name at least 5 generations of males, and dozens of their cousins with identical names in order to totally confuse researchers.
Stapels Dora Feiges. Joannes Fransiscussen Vuijlsteke. Leutig.