I'm doing some research on family history. I am trying to track some people that came to the U.S from Germany in 1737 on the ship "Charming Nancy". Here's the link:
http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1737cnan.htm
Close to the bottom of the list are the names:
- Thomas Spiri
- Sara
- Anna Eva, 27
- Hans Peter, 26
- Hans Henrich, 24
- Hans Jacob, 21
- Hans Thomas, 20
- Hans Nickel, 16
- Johan Jacob, 14
I'm trying to decide if the term "Hans" is an English/American version of a German term for men of some age (maybe 16?) or older. For example, the first name "Thomas" with no age given might be a very young boy (under the age of 14?). Where, Sara with no age might be a young girl. And, Johan Jacob, 14, a boy, does not have the "prefix" Hans.
Can anyone point to a source/reference for this problem?
Edit (08/01/2011) ==========================================
After more research, it is possible that the first two names (both without an age) in the list are the names of the parents of this group. They didn't make the trip to America, but it could have been the names that would have identified "the group".
Best Answer
It was a common practice among many German and Swiss families of that time to give two names to a child. Most often the first one was a saint's name, and the second was the name by which the child was known. For boys, the predominant saint's name by far was the German form of John (Johann or Hans). See other entries on that passenger list for other examples. Note that Johann or Hans is almost never a second name, but occurs in the first position.
See A History of Middle Names, the Western Europe section here, or the Middle Names section here.