I was born and raised in Lebanon Pa. witch is one county over from Lancaster. I now live on an island 100 miles off the coast of British Columbia and have a Jacob Stoltzfus as a neighbour one village over from mine.
You popped up on my TH-cam feed today and I have enjoyed watching the few videos I have seen so far. My Burkholder family immigrated from Switzerland in the mid 1700. They were and still are Mennonite and settled in the Lancaster PA area and then moved in the late 1700s or early 1800 to Harrisonburg VA. My grandfather left the Mennonite church when he moved away from Harrisonburg in the early 1900 and eventually settled in Texas where I currently live. I have many cousins in the Harrisonburg area and a few still left in PA. As I kid I always enjoyed going to my cousins farm in the small Mennonite community of Dale Enterprise which was just outside of Harrisonburg. In Harrisonburg there is a Burkholder-Meyer house that is a Brethren community center. That house was built by my Great Great Grandfather sometime in the 1850s and my Grandfather was born there. It has not been in the family for many years.
Glad to hear it Barry. Burkholder is another good Amish surname. It's really neat that you know your history back that far, I only know a few generations back. No doubt you've also seen it spelled Borkholder.
@@AmishAmerica I have seen it both ways, but the best I can tell, it was Burkholder the whole time on this continent. As for my knowledge of the family, Mennonites keep detailed family records. My brother had the family bible that dates back to the late 1700.
I found this very interesting because you mentioned uncommon names due to being in Canada. I live near the Amish and Jantzi and Albrecht are very common. I never knew it was uncommon as I see the names everywhere! Common here, but uncommon elsewhere.
Thanks for sharing. I've noticed the name Yoder on several of your posts on signs and such. I have a King ancestor who was born in Green Forest, Pennsylvania and moved to Agra, Kansas where my mother lived early on. One more thing, I have a German ancestor with last name Ziegenfuss.
My great great grandfather was a Bontrager, was an Amish bishop and eventually left the church and became Mennonite. My surname is Jantzi, an uncommon Mennonite last name
I have Amish friends in Michigan who are Delagrange. Their common ancestor was a man with French decent who married an Amish girl and joined the Amish church back in the 1800's.
Neat, there are at least one or two Swiss Amish settlements in MI - the Delagrange families I came across were from one of the Swiss Amish communities in Indiana. amishamerica.com/unusual-amish-names/
Amazing history! I am german expat living and working as a craftsman in northeaster Switzerland since 2011, close to the district of Wildhaus where reformator Huldrych Zwingli was born and raised. Many of the family names you mention are in common use here today; of course with their swissgerman spelling. Almost every small community has got it`s tiny anababtists congregation, ducking beetween protestant and catholic churchtowers, not seeking any attention and grateful for not beeing persecuted. When I do a hike on a summer weekend and go uphill through the villages I see the farmers kids tend the goats, sheeps and cows, of course bare footed, see the grandfathers with big silver beards and black hats swinging the scyithe ( because thats how it was always done). NO Question, wonderful amish folks are related to swiss mountain folks! If you are curious, listen to the swiss national anthem. Many greetings from Europe!
"Zook", "Lapp", "Mast", and "Yoder" are last names of some Amish that I have known. The one named "Mast" had a buggy "waiting for him" if he ever decided to return to the fold. The family home was stunning in its quality and simplicity, and staying there was a HUGE event in my life (Goshen, IN area).
When Jake Miller married Leora Yoder, he said he had to deyoderize her! Lots of Schwartz’s in Indiana. Swartzentruber is very common in Ohio and New York. Luthy, Lanecker, Petersheim, Lyndaker, Moser or Moshier, Zook, Glick, Martin, Yousey, Martinez, Slabaugh or Schlabach, Wenger or Wengerd, Wickey, Hilty, Nolan, Zehr, Virkler, Farney, Hirschey, Yancey, Bender, Steria (pronounced STEER-ee), Noftstier, Naftziger, Roggie, Widrick, Esch, Lehman, Eichler, Beller, Harris, Boshart, pronounced BAH-sert, Resslar, Lampier…there are more!
I have only followed this channel for a short while but I was born and raised amongst Amish and Mennonites in Pennsylvania where you find some of those names in your list around but you find such names you missed like Martin, Stahl, Stauffer, Brubaker, Hoover, Showalter, and of course both my mothers maiden name of Bollinger and my fathers last name of Bowersox have some ties to them within the local community and many of my ancestors having last names that either I mentioned or mentioned in the video.
Hi Joel I am glad you found the channel, but I didn't miss those names. The ones you mention are Mennonite last names, but not carried by Amish people. The video is about Amish surnames only 🙂
I, and my family, lived on an Amish farm in Ethridge, TN for 13 years....as non Amish. Gingerich is seemingly the community's most common name. The most uncommon name I've encountered was DuPriest. A former Amish gentleman named DuPriest worked as a salesman for the Amish owned "Imperial Diesel" company. I purchased a diesel generator from them.
Wow. You've got me curious to hear how that happened. Were you renting? Close with the community? I would guess DuPriest was an example of a convert to the Amish.
@@AmishAmerica Long story...but essentially we were able to retire early, with two daughters. We purchased a smaller farm (15 acres) on Yoder Road It had an Amish house and large barn. We were interested in going off-grid near or in an Amish or Mennonite community. Ethridge worked best since we wanted to be in the South. We were, and still are, close to the members of that community. We sold back to the Amish (John Yoder)...so there is finally a "Yoder" on Yoder Road! Family lost some interest in that lifestyle....and I was getting old. We now live about 37 miles from there in a more traditional home. I had always had an interest in German Pietist communities and Utopian Societies, and learned as much as I could. A highlight was working with Bear Gingerich before his death on the language derivation of their form of the PA Dutch language. Turned out to be Swabian. Wow..this getting long....thanks for your channel and interest.
Really interesting. As you know, very plain community but in my several visits I've found those folks friendly. I really like that settlement. And nice to hear you managed to get an Amish Yoder on Yoder Road there. I don't believe I know of the Bear Gingerich you mention but sounds like your path went in another interesting direction after Ethridge there.
I think of La Grange county in northern Indiana with the name Delagrange? We have been to Shipshewana several times and always enjoy going there!! We also have had out metal roofs put on by the Amish King family . They are wonderful workers and very efficient.
I know, you'd think it would be that community, right? But actually, the Delagrange name I've seen mainly in Allen County, Indiana, which is a Swiss settlement. It's possible it may be found in N. Indiana (sometimes Swiss Amish move to the "PA German" communities) but it's mainly in that one. Feels French to me,unlike almost every other Amish surname. Shipshewana and the whole community there is a very nice place to visit, agreed:) In that area, I quite like the town of Topeka and thereabouts, as it's a bit slower and maybe more "Amish", I recommend checking it out if you haven't been there yet.
Some of my father’s ancestors were/are Amish or Mennonite with surname Mullet or Mullett. Came from northern Switzerland where the name was Mollat. Holmes County, Ohio and Elkhart County, Indiana .
In Central PA (Centre and Mifflin Counties) we have many Peachey families, along with Kanagy. And here they pronounce Stoltzfus with silent t and z (Stolfuss).).
Peachey might be my favorite of all Amish surnames. Such a positive happy feel to it. I wasn't aware of that muted -tz- pronunciation there. Interesting.
Or Peachey- started in Switzerland as Peitche- came here and evolved into Beachy or Peachey- thus the Peacheyites of eastern Pennsylvania or the Beachy Amish- one of the first if not the first Amish communities to allow automobiles
Of the names in the top ten, I have Miller, Stoltzfus, Yoder, Troyer, and Fis(c)her ancestors. In the second tier, I have Hochstetler, Zook, Mast and Schmucker. I am sure there are many of A-M ancestry who can top that.
I have direct lines of jones, millers,kings and beamesdorefers from Shenandoah Valley who originated out of Lancaster back in the early 1700's. Then had migrated southward settling in the Shenandoah Valley by 1730's into mid 1740's. Then they migrated westward settling in bristol,va and blountville/ piney flats,TN areas by the late 1770's.
I have one Amish grandfather. He’s a Detweiler, which is decently common in northern Indiana. Lots of yoders, hochstetlers, schrocks, Bylers, fischers, millers etc.
I noticed that several Amish surnames are the same as (or similar to) Jewish last names. Miller, Schwartz and Dreier are some examples of surnames common in both groups. Is there any European connection at all between Jewish and Amish people?
I remember when actress Katie Sagal traced her family tree she found out that she was related to Amish and the last name was Zwilling. I also have family with the last name of Zwilling.
I was surprised not to see some form of the name Koontz listed. I've seen all sorts of forms and spellings of this name all my life throughout Pennsylvania. Very common.
Coblentz here, legend has the name came from an abandoned boy in the town of Koblenz. Possibly during the time when children of illegitimate birth were low-classed. The finders didn’t want to use their name for that reason. But it’s highly likely to have been of the undesirable kind. Petersheim has been rumored of such. Yoder, like Coblentz is listed as a name of origin. The supposed, first Yoder, buried in the oldest known Amish cemetery, outside Shanksville was born in 1728, came to America in 1742. During the time that is known for sending these young uns to become indentured servitude/slaves. For seven years, or until adulthood. (21) a tradition in many Amish communities
I was a Miller before I got married to a Coblentz...my husband and I both grew up in Middlefield Ohio which is said to be the fourth largest Amish community...my husband's family was one of the only 2 families with the Coblentz name in the whole community...so all the coblentzs but one family in the whole community is related to us...there are very few of my hubby's nephews to carry on the coblentz name because none of his five sisters married Coblentzs and of the five boys including himself only one is still Amish and he only has 2 sons...so basically there are only 2 boys that could carry the name on and actually only one because one of the 2 has special needs...just thought I'd share cuz I didn't hear our last name mentioned in the video and in our area it's not a common name at all...I wonder how common it is in other areas...🥰🥰
I forgot to mention that my husband's father was an only son so he has no brothers to carry on the name and also the other Coblentzs in our community was an older couple with no children...so there was no Coblentz growth there!! 🥰🥰
Lehman, Mishler, Borkholder, Wengard, Whetstone. All pretty common names amongst the N-IN Amish. Borkholder may be the most dominate name amongst the Nappanee Amish
Some of modern downtown Nappanee was originally part of my great great grandfather’s farm, or that of his brother. They, along with the Schmuckers and others, organized the West Market Street church, then known as the Amish-Mennonite church, now known as a Mennonite church.
Neuenschwander is not uncommon in Switzerland, it comes fron the town Neuenschwand in Bavaria. Brandenberger is also most probably from Switzerland and refers to Brandeberg in Tyrol. Albrecht is a common German name.
Mast for sure, but Horst actually is more a Mennonite name. I've never heard of a current Amish person with it - but that said maybe there is someone out there.
I find it very interesting that several maybe most of the uncommom Amish surnames that you spoke of are very commom where I live in Ontario Canada.including in Waterloo Co We also have Martin Musselman Gingrich Stoltz and Yantiz is very common
Yes that's interesting - Gascho, Kuepfer I really haven't seen evidence of much outside Ontario (no doubt there are probably some, but that's where it seems to be most common). Martin and Musselman I believe are probably both Mennonite names.
• A "Müller" is s.o. who grinds grain in a "Mühle" (=mill). • Stolzfuß means sth. like "pride foot". Maybe could have been sb. rigid/unfaltering. • Beiler might come from "Beil" which means hatchet/axe. So a "Beiler" is either sb. who chops fire-wood or a certain kind of blacksmith, specialized on axes.. • Schwarz (means black) is sb. with very dark or even black hair. (More often found in Swiss than in Germany.) • Dreifuß (means "three feet") is a synonyme for Schuster = Schuhmacher (= Shoemaker), named after the three-leged anvil.. • Bonetrager means sth. like bone-carrier, so it might have been some kind of a mortician/undertaker. • With surname König (King) is not sb. who is king himself, but some kind of clerk/functionary of the king (or any other aristocrate). • Gräber is again some kind of undertaker. Gräber means digger, meant is a gravedigger. Reber on the other hand might not come from Gräber but might have gotten confused bc. of the very similar pronounciation. (Gräber is pronounced just like Reber with an B in front..) A Reber though is a ropemaker. Mainly for shipping (navy) equipment. • Herschberger & Schlabach are named after their hometown. (Herschberger = Hirschberger; Hirsch = deer and Berg = hill/mountain. So Hirschberg must be in a forrest rich on red deer. • The "Bach" in "Schlabach" means stream/creek/rivulet. Schla might come from Schlamm, which means mud. So Schlabach is a village on a muddy creek.) • Hochstettler = from a high village (on a hill/mountain); (hoch = high, Städte = place). • Mast = fattening/feeding; sb. who keeps pigs/hogs. • Schmucker comes from Schmuck = jewelry. So it was some kind of goldsmith. • I've never heard "Zook". May derive from Zug, which means train or tail. • Brandenburger is sb. from Brandenburg; that's the area around Berlin. • Albrecht derives from an old germn firstname, Alberich. Means elf-monarch. In germanic mythology Alberich was the king of dwarfs/fairies.. ..The others are not german and I don't know. 😁 • Delagrange should be french originally. The prefix "De" means from in french and is quite common there. Btw. Müller (-> Miller) & Schmidt (->Smith) are the 2 most common names in Germany, followed by Bäcker (=Baker). Names after crafts are the most common in Germany.
@@chairmanofthebored8684 Thank you. :) Anthony derives from the firstname Anton. Anton derives from latin antonia/antonia, a popular/wealthy family in roman empire. The word itself comes from greek for precious and latin for chief. Anthony isn't a german surname though. It's often to be found in Britain, I think. It might came there by the roman occupation there. (Romans/Rome was in Britain and France, but not in the germanic area behind (east of) Rhine river. That's why Germans never got romanized.) Hope that helps. :D
Bishop Jacob Mast was my fifth great-grandfather. My branch left the Amish faith via Benjamin Mast, who has a colorful character. He had three wives and fathered 19 children., my Great grandfather, William (1859-1925) was his first born child. Upon the remarriage of Benjamin, William left home at age 16. He became a blacksmith and owned a General Store at the time of his death in St.Elmo, Illinois.
Neat that you know the family background going back that far. I've found Amish tend to be interested in genealogy and the books of descendants are popular. Now you've got me curious about Benjamin Mast.
@@AmishAmerica My grandpa Mast was a Methodist and his father William was a Methodist according to his 1925 obituary. Grandpa told me that William “Ran away from home at age 16 because he didn’t like the treatment he was subjected by Benjamin’s new wife, Sarah Medaris.”
My German born “ Baiyer” family settled in Amity Pennsylvania as “Boyer” about 20 miles from Boyertown Pennsylvania. I was wondering if you ever heard of any Boyer Amish ?
Now I've seen Stoltzfus, Yoder and King tons of times in the Lancaster region. I'm not sure if my neighbor's last name got shortened over time or no one could spell their original name. But their surname is Blank. We are in southern York county, PA. It's oddly not too uncommon in the region.
Blank is seen among the Amish in Lancaster area in particular, though it's not super-common. There was an Amishman named Benuel Blank who was an author. I have one of his books on the Ausbund, an Amish hymnal. I would guess some of the non-Amish Blanks you see probably have some Amish roots going back.
My Very Great Grandfather Johannes Yeater came from Stuttgart Germany in 1749 on the ship, "Restoration", to Mifflintown Pa. Via Newyork with his, (I believe to have been pregnant) wife Margaretha Bader... The Son coming to be Ludwig Lewis Yeater. Oh, I forgot to mention that they were Dunkards, or Brethren. Not Amish... But similar in those days. I've always been fascinated with these cultures!
Not necessarily Amish surnames, but growing up in a Mennonite community, I knew a lot of [takes deep breath] Bergey, Derstine, Detw(e)iler, Landis/Landes, Godshall, Hunsberger, Hostetler, Tyson, Alderfer and Weaver. I imagine some of those last name appear in Amish communities as well.
There’s a common Mennonite surname… Laymen/Lehman… and I’m not sure if mine is an offshoot or vice-versa… my surname is Gehman… there’s a good few in the Lancaster area… there’s also a Gehman Mennonite Church in the area.
My grandmother, Lillian Meahl (b. 1878) was one of 10 Mennonite children of Walter (I think) Von der Muhlen and Maria Kleber (I'm 84). Emigrating from Greenstadt, Germany and eventually settling near Lewiston, New York about 1850.. The name was shortened to MEAHL. They left (or were expelled from) the Mennonite community so I am totally disconnected from this part of my ancestry.
1)Are there any Amish surnames starting with 'van' or 'von' ? 2) Are there any Amish communities or single/couple Amish people in New Zealand ? There are a lot of descendants of Dutch people here but none can speak Pennsylvania Dutch (I think) After the 2nd WW a lot of Dutch (mainly) farmers moved to New Zealand and were very well welcomed, not least because they quickly assimilated into NZ society
Von/Van indicates a nobleman family, as well as the "de" in front of the name. No Anabaptists claimed themselves as being "higher" than everybody else. I like that.
@@Ujuani68 'van' and 'de' in Dutch have nothing to do with nobility. they just mean 'from' and 'the', 'von' is German and denotes a person of nobility.
Good one! Fwiw I've seen it spelled Eash or Esch occasionally among the Amish, and another form of the name is Oesch (though I don't believe is seen among Amish today).
I was born and raised in Lebanon Pa. witch is one county over from Lancaster. I now live on an island 100 miles off the coast of British Columbia and have a Jacob Stoltzfus as a neighbour one village over from mine.
You popped up on my TH-cam feed today and I have enjoyed watching the few videos I have seen so far. My Burkholder family immigrated from Switzerland in the mid 1700. They were and still are Mennonite and settled in the Lancaster PA area and then moved in the late 1700s or early 1800 to Harrisonburg VA. My grandfather left the Mennonite church when he moved away from Harrisonburg in the early 1900 and eventually settled in Texas where I currently live. I have many cousins in the Harrisonburg area and a few still left in PA. As I kid I always enjoyed going to my cousins farm in the small Mennonite community of Dale Enterprise which was just outside of Harrisonburg. In Harrisonburg there is a Burkholder-Meyer house that is a Brethren community center. That house was built by my Great Great Grandfather sometime in the 1850s and my Grandfather was born there. It has not been in the family for many years.
Glad to hear it Barry. Burkholder is another good Amish surname. It's really neat that you know your history back that far, I only know a few generations back. No doubt you've also seen it spelled Borkholder.
@@AmishAmerica I have seen it both ways, but the best I can tell, it was Burkholder the whole time on this continent. As for my knowledge of the family, Mennonites keep detailed family records. My brother had the family bible that dates back to the late 1700.
I found this very interesting because you mentioned uncommon names due to being in Canada. I live near the Amish and Jantzi and Albrecht are very common. I never knew it was uncommon as I see the names everywhere!
Common here, but uncommon elsewhere.
Thanks for sharing. I've noticed the name Yoder on several of your posts on signs and such. I have a King ancestor who was born in Green Forest, Pennsylvania and moved to Agra, Kansas where my mother lived early on.
One more thing, I have a German ancestor with last name Ziegenfuss.
Another stellar informative video from Eric! Thanks for all you do.
MARTIN is also a VERY common Anabaptist name
I nearly forgot: Eby and Birky seem to be quite common surnames among the Anabaptists
The late Vern Troyer (Mini Me from Austin Powers) was born Amish in Michigan. His parents left the community shortly after his birth.
Erb is a somewhat less common name, but still quite a few in the Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio.
Yoder’s, Beachy, peachy, weaver, and Miller’s all in my family from PA and Ohio
My great great grandfather was a Bontrager, was an Amish bishop and eventually left the church and became Mennonite. My surname is Jantzi, an uncommon Mennonite last name
Have Yoder, Graber, Zook, Schrock in my family tree. (Mom's family from Lancaster Pennsylvania.)
My dad's family is Mennonites, and Zimmerman is a very common name especially in the Kentucky and Maryland Area
I have Amish friends in Michigan who are Delagrange. Their common ancestor was a man with French decent who married an Amish girl and joined the Amish church back in the 1800's.
Neat, there are at least one or two Swiss Amish settlements in MI - the Delagrange families I came across were from one of the Swiss Amish communities in Indiana. amishamerica.com/unusual-amish-names/
Here in Wis. We have many Stoltzfus, Yoder, Miller, & Beiler families around us.
I have seen the last name Riehl in Lancaster County
Amazing history! I am german expat living and working as a craftsman in northeaster Switzerland since 2011, close to the district of Wildhaus where reformator Huldrych Zwingli was born and raised. Many of the family names you mention are in common use here today; of course with their swissgerman spelling. Almost every small community has got it`s tiny anababtists congregation, ducking beetween protestant and catholic churchtowers, not seeking any attention and grateful for not beeing persecuted.
When I do a hike on a summer weekend and go uphill through the villages I see the farmers kids tend the goats, sheeps and cows, of course bare footed, see the grandfathers with big silver beards and black hats swinging the scyithe ( because thats how it was always done).
NO Question, wonderful amish folks are related to swiss mountain folks!
If you are curious, listen to the swiss national anthem.
Many greetings from Europe!
Sounds like a great hike! No doubt a beautiful land
Strong Jacob Yoder sounds like an interesting character. To think there’s this folk hero no one else has ever heard of.
"Zook", "Lapp", "Mast", and "Yoder" are last names of some Amish that I have known. The one named "Mast" had a buggy "waiting for him" if he ever decided to return to the fold. The family home was stunning in its quality and simplicity, and staying there was a HUGE event in my life (Goshen, IN area).
When Jake Miller married Leora Yoder, he said he had to deyoderize her! Lots of Schwartz’s in Indiana. Swartzentruber is very common in Ohio and New York. Luthy, Lanecker, Petersheim, Lyndaker, Moser or Moshier, Zook, Glick, Martin, Yousey, Martinez, Slabaugh or Schlabach, Wenger or Wengerd, Wickey, Hilty, Nolan, Zehr, Virkler, Farney, Hirschey, Yancey, Bender, Steria (pronounced STEER-ee), Noftstier, Naftziger, Roggie, Widrick, Esch, Lehman, Eichler, Beller, Harris, Boshart, pronounced BAH-sert, Resslar, Lampier…there are more!
I have only followed this channel for a short while but I was born and raised amongst Amish and Mennonites in Pennsylvania where you find some of those names in your list around but you find such names you missed like Martin, Stahl, Stauffer, Brubaker, Hoover, Showalter, and of course both my mothers maiden name of Bollinger and my fathers last name of Bowersox have some ties to them within the local community and many of my ancestors having last names that either I mentioned or mentioned in the video.
Hi Joel I am glad you found the channel, but I didn't miss those names. The ones you mention are Mennonite last names, but not carried by Amish people. The video is about Amish surnames only 🙂
We have several Amish with the last name Blank here in upper Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. We're about an hour north of Lancaster, PA.
There is a Blank Road in Lancaster County. Not the most common name but in that area you see it 👍
I, and my family, lived on an Amish farm in Ethridge, TN for 13 years....as non Amish. Gingerich is seemingly the community's most common name. The most uncommon name I've encountered was DuPriest. A former Amish gentleman named DuPriest worked as a salesman for the Amish owned "Imperial Diesel" company. I purchased a diesel generator from them.
Wow. You've got me curious to hear how that happened. Were you renting? Close with the community? I would guess DuPriest was an example of a convert to the Amish.
@@AmishAmerica Long story...but essentially we were able to retire early, with two daughters. We purchased a smaller farm (15 acres) on Yoder Road It had an Amish house and large barn. We were interested in going off-grid near or in an Amish or Mennonite community. Ethridge worked best since we wanted to be in the South. We were, and still are, close to the members of that community. We sold back to the Amish (John Yoder)...so there is finally a "Yoder" on Yoder Road! Family lost some interest in that lifestyle....and I was getting old. We now live about 37 miles from there in a more traditional home. I had always had an interest in German Pietist communities and Utopian Societies, and learned as much as I could. A highlight was working with Bear Gingerich before his death on the language derivation of their form of the PA Dutch language. Turned out to be Swabian. Wow..this getting long....thanks for your channel and interest.
Really interesting. As you know, very plain community but in my several visits I've found those folks friendly. I really like that settlement. And nice to hear you managed to get an Amish Yoder on Yoder Road there. I don't believe I know of the Bear Gingerich you mention but sounds like your path went in another interesting direction after Ethridge there.
I think of La Grange county in northern Indiana with the name Delagrange? We have been to Shipshewana several times and always enjoy going there!! We also have had out metal roofs put on by the Amish King family . They are wonderful workers and very efficient.
I know, you'd think it would be that community, right? But actually, the Delagrange name I've seen mainly in Allen County, Indiana, which is a Swiss settlement. It's possible it may be found in N. Indiana (sometimes Swiss Amish move to the "PA German" communities) but it's mainly in that one. Feels French to me,unlike almost every other Amish surname. Shipshewana and the whole community there is a very nice place to visit, agreed:) In that area, I quite like the town of Topeka and thereabouts, as it's a bit slower and maybe more "Amish", I recommend checking it out if you haven't been there yet.
Some of my father’s ancestors were/are Amish or Mennonite with surname Mullet or Mullett. Came from northern Switzerland where the name was Mollat. Holmes County, Ohio and Elkhart County, Indiana .
I never knew that !!! My granny surname is jones and my grandpas is weaver
There is King's BBQ at our local Lancaster County Amish Market always a long line at King's BBQ
In Camden Michigan I know a large group of Amish with the last name of DeLagrange .
In Central PA (Centre and Mifflin Counties) we have many Peachey families, along with Kanagy. And here they pronounce Stoltzfus with silent t and z (Stolfuss).).
Peachey might be my favorite of all Amish surnames. Such a positive happy feel to it. I wasn't aware of that muted -tz- pronunciation there. Interesting.
I’m from ohio, & the amount of times I’ve played the Amish is slowpitch softball and lost to them is insane.. they’re natural born athletes
Helmuth is another fairly common last night.
Or Peachey- started in Switzerland as Peitche- came here and evolved into Beachy or Peachey- thus the Peacheyites of eastern Pennsylvania or the Beachy Amish- one of the first if not the first Amish communities to allow automobiles
I am a Miller thanks to my Amish roots my grandfather came from the Amish.
Of the names in the top ten, I have Miller, Stoltzfus, Yoder, Troyer, and Fis(c)her ancestors. In the second tier, I have Hochstetler, Zook, Mast and Schmucker. I am sure there are many of A-M ancestry who can top that.
And Beiler/Byler.
Wow! Great info!
Glad you liked it Mike!
I have direct lines of jones, millers,kings and beamesdorefers from Shenandoah Valley who originated out of Lancaster back in the early 1700's. Then had migrated southward settling in the Shenandoah Valley by 1730's into mid 1740's. Then they migrated westward settling in bristol,va and blountville/ piney flats,TN areas by the late 1770's.
I have one Amish grandfather. He’s a Detweiler, which is decently common in northern Indiana. Lots of yoders, hochstetlers, schrocks, Bylers, fischers, millers etc.
Verne Troyer the guy who played mini me on Austin Powers grew up Amish
I am glad to know that.The first time I heard his last name was Troyer I guessed he was ofAmish heritage.
I noticed that several Amish surnames are the same as (or similar to) Jewish last names. Miller, Schwartz and Dreier are some examples of surnames common in both groups. Is there any European connection at all between Jewish and Amish people?
I remember when actress Katie Sagal traced her family tree she found out that she was related to Amish and the last name was Zwilling. I also have family with the last name of Zwilling.
I grew up in a German settlement in North Alabama, most of these names are popular there.
I was surprised not to see some form of the name Koontz listed. I've seen all sorts of forms and spellings of this name all my life throughout Pennsylvania. Very common.
I have seen some of those names at the Clark MO Amish
Really interesting. Some rare ones I've come across are "Allgyer" and "Summy".
Good additions to that list, thanks.
Burkholder is a very common Mennonite name in Southeast PA
Great grandfather from Indiana...Greider married Brubaker (All Amish)
My Amish ancestors are Stutesman and Hochstetler… originally from the Schuylkill Valley Pennsylvania area.
Coblentz here, legend has the name came from an abandoned boy in the town of Koblenz. Possibly during the time when children of illegitimate birth were low-classed. The finders didn’t want to use their name for that reason.
But it’s highly likely to have been of the undesirable kind. Petersheim has been rumored of such. Yoder, like Coblentz is listed as a name of origin.
The supposed, first Yoder, buried in the oldest known Amish cemetery, outside Shanksville was born in 1728, came to America in 1742. During the time that is known for sending these young uns to become indentured servitude/slaves. For seven years, or until adulthood. (21) a tradition in many Amish communities
I was a Miller before I got married to a Coblentz...my husband and I both grew up in Middlefield Ohio which is said to be the fourth largest Amish community...my husband's family was one of the only 2 families with the Coblentz name in the whole community...so all the coblentzs but one family in the whole community is related to us...there are very few of my hubby's nephews to carry on the coblentz name because none of his five sisters married Coblentzs and of the five boys including himself only one is still Amish and he only has 2 sons...so basically there are only 2 boys that could carry the name on and actually only one because one of the 2 has special needs...just thought I'd share cuz I didn't hear our last name mentioned in the video and in our area it's not a common name at all...I wonder how common it is in other areas...🥰🥰
I forgot to mention that my husband's father was an only son so he has no brothers to carry on the name and also the other Coblentzs in our community was an older couple with no children...so there was no Coblentz growth there!! 🥰🥰
Laura Coblentz
Abe Coblentz??? My wife’s uncle Albert Kurtz lived almost directly across the road.
Lehman, Mishler, Borkholder, Wengard, Whetstone. All pretty common names amongst the N-IN Amish. Borkholder may be the most dominate name amongst the Nappanee Amish
Thanks for these Ross, good additions here. I'm not sure if someone else mentioned it yet, but also Lambright for the N. Indiana area.
I am related to the Borkholder the Nappanee Amish.
Some of modern downtown Nappanee was originally part of my great great grandfather’s farm, or that of his brother. They, along with the Schmuckers and others, organized the West Market Street church, then known as the Amish-Mennonite church, now known as a Mennonite church.
Neuenschwander is not uncommon in Switzerland, it comes fron the town Neuenschwand in Bavaria. Brandenberger is also most probably from Switzerland and refers to Brandeberg in Tyrol. Albrecht is a common German name.
Not where I was thinking, then. It made me think of Brandenburg around Berlin so I was a little off.
Lancaster County. Martin, Burkholder, Wenger, Hoover, Kreider.
Illinois Amish surnames which are common here but uncommon elsewhere are Headings, Baker, and Rieser.
Esh and Peachy are the only other ones that I can think of at the moment.
Here in Wisconsin common names are Lehman, Schrock, Miller.
Mast and Horst
Mast for sure, but Horst actually is more a Mennonite name. I've never heard of a current Amish person with it - but that said maybe there is someone out there.
I find it very interesting that several maybe most of the uncommom Amish surnames that you spoke of are very commom where I live in Ontario Canada.including in Waterloo Co We also have Martin Musselman Gingrich Stoltz and Yantiz is very common
Yes that's interesting - Gascho, Kuepfer I really haven't seen evidence of much outside Ontario (no doubt there are probably some, but that's where it seems to be most common). Martin and Musselman I believe are probably both Mennonite names.
There’s also Beechy (Beachy), Lambright, and Glick.
Good additions
Is Raber directly from Graber or is it only in my area? I used to be amish and it's my last name but never learned about my history that much
Troyer Cheeses - Makes so much more sense now. haha
My husband's family name is Gegax from Wakarusa, Indiana. They were of Swiss Amish heritage..
You mentioned that charming Polly that landed in 1737 isn’t that the charming Nancy? was the polly a different ship?
I have Anabaptist ancestors named Landis who are descendants of Hans Landis the last Anabaptist martyr in Switzerland.
• A "Müller" is s.o. who grinds grain in a "Mühle" (=mill).
• Stolzfuß means sth. like "pride foot". Maybe could have been sb. rigid/unfaltering.
• Beiler might come from "Beil" which means hatchet/axe. So a "Beiler" is either sb. who chops fire-wood or a certain kind of blacksmith, specialized on axes..
• Schwarz (means black) is sb. with very dark or even black hair. (More often found in Swiss than in Germany.)
• Dreifuß (means "three feet") is a synonyme for Schuster = Schuhmacher (= Shoemaker), named after the three-leged anvil..
• Bonetrager means sth. like bone-carrier, so it might have been some kind of a mortician/undertaker.
• With surname König (King) is not sb. who is king himself, but some kind of clerk/functionary of the king (or any other aristocrate).
• Gräber is again some kind of undertaker. Gräber means digger, meant is a gravedigger. Reber on the other hand might not come from Gräber but might have gotten confused bc. of the very similar pronounciation. (Gräber is pronounced just like Reber with an B in front..) A Reber though is a ropemaker. Mainly for shipping (navy) equipment.
• Herschberger & Schlabach are named after their hometown. (Herschberger = Hirschberger; Hirsch = deer and Berg = hill/mountain. So Hirschberg must be in a forrest rich on red deer.
• The "Bach" in "Schlabach" means stream/creek/rivulet. Schla might come from Schlamm, which means mud. So Schlabach is a village on a muddy creek.)
• Hochstettler = from a high village (on a hill/mountain); (hoch = high, Städte = place).
• Mast = fattening/feeding; sb. who keeps pigs/hogs.
• Schmucker comes from Schmuck = jewelry. So it was some kind of goldsmith.
• I've never heard "Zook". May derive from Zug, which means train or tail.
• Brandenburger is sb. from Brandenburg; that's the area around Berlin.
• Albrecht derives from an old germn firstname, Alberich. Means elf-monarch. In germanic mythology Alberich was the king of dwarfs/fairies..
..The others are not german and I don't know. 😁
• Delagrange should be french originally. The prefix "De" means from in french and is quite common there.
Btw. Müller (-> Miller) & Schmidt (->Smith) are the 2 most common names in Germany, followed by Bäcker (=Baker). Names after crafts are the most common in Germany.
@@chairmanofthebored8684
Thank you. :)
Anthony derives from the firstname Anton. Anton derives from latin antonia/antonia, a popular/wealthy family in roman empire. The word itself comes from greek for precious and latin for chief. Anthony isn't a german surname though. It's often to be found in Britain, I think. It might came there by the roman occupation there. (Romans/Rome was in Britain and France, but not in the germanic area behind (east of) Rhine river. That's why Germans never got romanized.)
Hope that helps. :D
Bishop Jacob Mast was my fifth great-grandfather. My branch left the Amish faith via Benjamin Mast, who has a colorful character. He had three wives and fathered 19 children., my Great grandfather, William (1859-1925) was his first born child. Upon the remarriage of Benjamin, William left home at age 16. He became a blacksmith and owned a General Store at the time of his death in St.Elmo, Illinois.
Neat that you know the family background going back that far. I've found Amish tend to be interested in genealogy and the books of descendants are popular. Now you've got me curious about Benjamin Mast.
@@AmishAmerica My grandpa Mast was a Methodist and his father William was a Methodist according to his 1925 obituary. Grandpa told me that William “Ran away from home at age 16 because he didn’t like the treatment he was subjected by Benjamin’s new wife, Sarah Medaris.”
Interesting. Do you know how many of Benjamin's children remained with the Amish?
@@AmishAmerica Haven’t looked into that part of the family history.
My German born “ Baiyer” family settled in Amity Pennsylvania as “Boyer” about 20 miles from Boyertown Pennsylvania. I was wondering if you ever heard of any Boyer Amish ?
Now I've seen Stoltzfus, Yoder and King tons of times in the Lancaster region. I'm not sure if my neighbor's last name got shortened over time or no one could spell their original name. But their surname is Blank. We are in southern York county, PA. It's oddly not too uncommon in the region.
Blank is seen among the Amish in Lancaster area in particular, though it's not super-common. There was an Amishman named Benuel Blank who was an author. I have one of his books on the Ausbund, an Amish hymnal. I would guess some of the non-Amish Blanks you see probably have some Amish roots going back.
My mom was a Landis. Her parents were Church of the Brethern in Ohio.
Very interesting, I am 8 % Scottish, 4 % Norwegian, 2 % French (Norman invaders) and the rest Anglo Saxon
Vern Troyer aka "Mini Me" was born Amish
I live in Gladwin, Mich. and the last names of most of the Amish are Zook, hershberger, Miller, Troyer and Swartzentruber.
My Very Great Grandfather Johannes Yeater came from Stuttgart Germany in 1749 on the ship, "Restoration", to Mifflintown Pa. Via Newyork with his, (I believe to have been pregnant) wife Margaretha Bader... The Son coming to be Ludwig Lewis Yeater.
Oh, I forgot to mention that they were Dunkards, or Brethren. Not Amish... But similar in those days. I've always been fascinated with these cultures!
I thought for sure Yoder would be there?!?!?! That's definitely the one I always think of as Amish.
Glick, Lapp, Coblentz just to name a few…
Not necessarily Amish surnames, but growing up in a Mennonite community, I knew a lot of [takes deep breath] Bergey, Derstine, Detw(e)iler, Landis/Landes, Godshall, Hunsberger, Hostetler, Tyson, Alderfer and Weaver. I imagine some of those last name appear in Amish communities as well.
Hostetler, Weaver, and Detweiler do 👍
I live in Jackson County Ohio, and there are many around here with the last name of "Peachey".
That's one of my favorite Amish surnames. Sounds so cheerful.
My Amish grandfather was named Riehl
Neat I bet you know the Lewis Riehl story then
Stutzman and Yoder are common in my part of Ontario
Im British Jones is 1 of the most popular , in Wales it is the most common after Smith which is the most British surname.
What do you know about Pennsylvania Dutch surname Drupsteen?
My ex had a Pennsylvania Dutch last name.
Did you know that some of the Amish have family history books??
There’s a common Mennonite surname… Laymen/Lehman… and I’m not sure if mine is an offshoot or vice-versa… my surname is Gehman… there’s a good few in the Lancaster area… there’s also a Gehman Mennonite Church in the area.
So, what made "Lapp" important enough to be on the movie "Witness"?
1.) Miller
2.) stoltzfus
3.) Yoder
4.) Beiber
5.) Schwartz
6.) Troyer
7.) Bontrager
8.) King
9.) Graber
10.) Fisher
My grandmother, Lillian Meahl (b. 1878) was one of 10 Mennonite children of Walter (I think) Von der Muhlen and Maria Kleber (I'm 84). Emigrating from Greenstadt, Germany and eventually settling near Lewiston, New York about 1850.. The name was shortened to MEAHL. They left (or were expelled from) the Mennonite community so I am totally disconnected from this part of my ancestry.
Bower or Bauer from Lancaster, PA
I've heard of Amish name Lapp.
Zook!
Have you never heard the name Stoltzfus pronounced? Vernon Toyer (Mini-Me) came from an Amish family...
Not yet but hopefully one day;) I like to say the "t"
hart Jennings Funstmucker i’m related to the herts and the Jennings
1)Are there any Amish surnames starting with 'van' or 'von' ? 2) Are there any Amish communities or single/couple Amish people in New Zealand ? There are a lot of descendants of Dutch people here but none can speak Pennsylvania Dutch (I think) After the 2nd WW a lot of Dutch (mainly) farmers moved to New Zealand and were very well welcomed, not least because they quickly assimilated into NZ society
Von/Van indicates a nobleman family, as well as the "de" in front of the name. No Anabaptists claimed themselves as being "higher" than everybody else. I like that.
@@Ujuani68 'van' and 'de' in Dutch have nothing to do with nobility. they just mean 'from' and 'the', 'von' is German and denotes a person of nobility.
My last name is Troyer and I'm from a town very close to Kokomo
One name I was surprised not to see......."Zimmerman"........there are areas here in PA where , so it seems, every other farm is a Zimmerman
That is common among Mennonites
Eicher
Yutzy (Ohio)
Stutzman
Good one! I met Stutzmans in the very first Amish community I spent time in.
We had a chemistry teacher in high school whose name was Stutzman. He was the only person having that surname that I have ever encountered.
How about Esh and Esch
Swartzentruber
Good one.
@@AmishAmerica lots of these up here in northern ny
Forgot Stutzman
Yea, I just didn't include it. Stutzman is pretty common. There are a lot of names that didn't make it into this video of 10.
Schwartz is commonly Jewish as well.
Martin is common name ?
It's common among some Mennonites but not Amish 👍
Can you become Amish if you're not born into the community?
Yes it is possible to join but not too common. I'm planning a video on it
Esh! :)
Good one! Fwiw I've seen it spelled Eash or Esch occasionally among the Amish, and another form of the name is Oesch (though I don't believe is seen among Amish today).
Vern troyer mini me was born amish