#6-2020 Same name 52 Ancestors in a Year

#6. Same Name

It seems that the Germans from Russia used the same names, over and over again, sometimes in the same generations!  And it seems every family used the same names.  

The most used male names seem to be (at least in my husband’s family) are Henry (or Heinrich), Conrad (Konrad), August or Jacob.

The female common names are Katherine, Katharina, Maria or Anna.  (Catherina too)

Leroy’s grandfather’s name was Henry.  But I have yet to discover his birth certificate with his “real name” because I think when he came into the United States at age 7, his name was listed as Philip.  Philip was his father’s name, or the name he used in the United States, but on the passenger list he is listed as Henry.  (  Research from a census record in Warenburg, Russia indicates Philip's name was Heinrich Philip Gabel.)

It is possible that first names were confused on the passenger list, but it is also possible that they went by those names in Russia.  German males were often given the first name of Johann, and then 2 “middle names” that they used in order to lessen the confusion.  So a male often used either one of the middle names.  Females were often named Maria for the first name and again they might have 2 middle names.  

Henry (Heinrich) is a common Gabel name.  When Philip came into the United States, his passenger record states that he is going to his brother Henry, in Lincoln, Nebraska.  But there were 2 Henry Gabel’s in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1907.  And which Henry was his brother?  And there is possibly other Henry Gabel’s in Nebraska in 1907.  (currently working with DNA to separate out the Henry's!)

And Philip had a brother Henry.  He was actually in the Hardin area at one time.  He died in 1951 and is buried in Hardin, Montana.

And then there is this Henry Gabel buried at the Huntley, Montana cemetery.  I found his grave by grave dowsing, and find the headstone by using a sharp metal stick.  (the headstone is concrete and was buried under about 6 inches of sod).  The information was confirmed by cemetery records, but there is no birth or death date listed.  

Another Henry Gabel