Saturday, November 13, 2010

Surname Saturday: Deutsch

I continue with the Surname Saturday blogging theme -  
Discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research.
Deutsch

Deutsch is a common surname.  The name, in German, means, "German." One might assume this suggests a family with this surname originated in Germany. That's not necessarily the case. 
One reason for the frequency of German names among Jews is related to a misunderstanding of a 1787 Austro-Hungarian law. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which controlled a substantial part of Europe, was the first country in Europe that required Jews to register a permanent family surname. At the same time, they required Jews to register a German given name. The decree was widely misinterpreted as requiring a German surname, so the overwhelming majority of Jewish surnames created for that registration were German ones. (source)
My most distant-known Deutsch ancestors were from Transylvania when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.  So there is a very good chance the surname was created in 1787, and my ancestors were among those who thought they needed to choose a German language surname.  If this is the case, they either didn't have very much imagination, or they had a very dry sense of humor.  (I can hear them now: "Our surname must be 'Deutsch'?  OK, it's 'Deutsch.'")

There are two common pronunciations of the surname.  There's the German fashion which sounds like Dyche or Ditch, and the Austrian fashion which sounds like Doytch.  My grandfather pronounced it in the Austrian fashion, though there is evidence some of his cousins pronounced it in the German fashion.

A lot of the information I have on the early generations below comes from family lore, passed down orally on an audiotape my grandfather and his siblings recorded in the 1970s, pieced together with documents I've found online.  Since Deutsch is a common surname, the odds I have made some mistakes in the patchwork increase.  I will make corrections/additions as they are discovered.

The numbering follows the d'Aboville system.  I've emboldened my direct ancestors. Since I'm less certain on geographical locations for many of the names, I've left them off this descent.  The family originated in Transylvania, and lived in several cities there including Turda, and Varalmas.  Many of the branches that immigrated to America settled originally in Chicago, Illinois.

2. Abraham Deutsch - married Sarah Weiss

2.1 David Leib Deutsch – married Edith Markowitz
2.2 Albert Deutsch
2.3 Samuel Deutsch (Dec 20, 1861 – Jan 21, 1938) - married Chava Leah (Helen) Lichtmann
2.4 Sarah Deutsch (1877-?) married Adolph Rosenblum

2.1.1 Bertha Deutsch – married Frank Newman
2.1.2 Herman Deutsch
2.1.3 Celia Deutsch
2.1.4 Hani Deutsch – (1880-Nov 10, 1943) married Samuel Guttman

2.2.1 Joseph Deutsch – (1887-?) married Eva Wurtenberg
2.2.2 Regina Deutsch (1890-?) married Nathan Greenfield
2.2.3 Herman Deutsch (1897-?) married Dora Diamant

2.3.1 Jean Deutsch (1889-?) - married Bernard Kamerman
2.3.2 Armon Deutsch (1900-1908)
2.3.3 Theodore Deutsch (Oct 22, 1902 – Sept 1980) married Frances Levy
2.3.4 Edward Deutsch (Oct 6, 1904 – May 15, 1973)- changed surname to Kameran
2.3.5 Martin Deutsch (Feb 28, 1907 – Mar 19, 1991) married (1) Myrtle Van Every (2) Marjorie Shelp
2.3.6 Maurice Gerald Deutsch (Jun 18, 1909 – July 30, 1950) married Dorothy Arkin
2.3.7 Berta Deutsch (Apr 6, 1911 – Feb 22, 2003) married Herman Freed
2.3.8 Allen Deutsch (Jan 24, 1914 – Jun 13, 1988) married Jean Collier

2.4.1 Daniel Rosenblum
2.4.2 Pauline Rosenblum (Jul 31, 1903 – June 1984) married Edward Kohl
2.4.3 Esther Rosenblum
2.4.4 Frances Rosenblum
2.4.5 Julia Rosenblum - married David Mittleman
2.4.6 Lillian Rosenblum - married Eli Greene

2.1.1.1 Henry Newman
2.1.1.2 Nathan Newman
2.1.1.3 Lydia Newman

2.1.4.1 Samuel Guttman (Mar 28, 1905 – Dec 1968)
2.1.4.2 Edward Guttman (May 28, 1906 – Sept 1973)
2.1.4.3 Joe Guttman (Jun 4, 1907 – July 1982)
2.1.4.4 Emil Guttman
2.1.4.5 Nathan Guttman (Jul 5, 1913 – Sept 1, 1981)

2.2.1.1 Albert Deutsch
2.2.1.2 Sigmund Deutsch (Nov 20, 1914 – Aug 8, 1995) married Margaret Smick Sept 26, 1942

2.2.2.1. Bella Greenfield – married Hugh Roth
2.2.2.2 Gertrude Greenfield – married Harry Schrenkel
2.2.2.3 Milton Greenfield
2.2.2.4 Irving Greenfield

2.2.3.1 Sarene Deutsch (July 29, 1914 – Jan 20,1990) married David Lipton
2.2.3.2 Pearl Deutsch (June 2, 1921 – July 17, 1997) married Burton Zoot
2.2.3.3 Albert Deutsch (Dec 31, 1922-Nov 30, 1998) married Ida Rosenwald
2.2.3.4 Lillian Deutsch (May 21, 1924 – Dec 15, 2004) married Morrie Isaac

2.4.2.1 Darwin L Kohl (June 1925-Oct 2, 1971)

My number = 2.4.5.1.3

2 comments:

Dana said...

My number is 2.3.1.1.4.1

Sarene Deutsch was my grandmother :)

John said...

That's wonderful! I'd enjoy exchanging the information we have on our Deutsch ancestors.