Krueger Scottish?

[Gary Krueger]

Well, I've been doing some brief research into the history of the Krueger surname. It is sometimes pronounce Kree ger or Kra ger.
Various spellings Kruger, Kreuger, Kriiger, Crager.

Well it seems that the name Krueger appears in several variations in the UK records.

Scotland: Kirquhar (Prounounced Kir ger) (Argyle and Caithness)

Looking at the Clans... I found that another varriation of the spelling,
Kerracher (Prounounced Ker ker) under the sept of Farquharson.

Interesting.

[Dirk Skene]

I had always thought of Kruger as a Bavarian form of Krieger which is German for warrior. But I admit I've been known to be wrong. The Bavarians will sometimes "soft-mouth" their words like we here in the southern U.S. tend to do sometimes.

[RockyR]

It very well may be German... When the Germans came over here, there was no "umlaut" (the 2 little dots above a vowel in certain words) in English... so the easiest way to communicate the sound of the vowel was to put an "e" after the vowel (vs having the umlaut over it).

Note my last name "Roeger" was "Roger" with 2 little dots over the o.

Krueger (if it's a German Surname) would have been Kruger with 2 little dots over the o.

[Mike1]

Note my last name "Roeger" was "Roger" with 2 little dots over the o.

Krueger (if it's a German Surname) would have been Kruger with 2 little dots over the o.

What Rocky is describing would look like this - Röger and Krüger.

[macwilkin]

Gary,

A very interesting post, to be sure -- reminds me of my MIL's surname, Melancon, which is a French Acadien/Cajun surname which is believed to have originated in either Scotland or England as Melanson, Millanson, etc. In fact, Melanson is traditionally associated with Clan MacMillan.

And, one more thing to consider: many German surnames were "Americanized" during the First World War as a result of the anti-German hysteria that also changed sauerkraut into "liberty cabbage" and dachshunds into "liberty hounds" -- for example, the American "ace" Eddie Rickenbacker changed his name from the more German "Rickenbacher" in 1918.

Great thread!

Todd

[Robin]

Genealogy can be fun...and a nightmare

It was a hobby of my father and grandfather, when my dad died I got the family archives (several cardboard boxes with over 2 meters of paperwork). Great stuff...some of it written on parchment in medieval Dutch. Lots of church records (birth, death, marriage), transfer of property acts, tax records...even a criminal punishment record (pillory and whip lashes).

Before the Napoleonic era (pre 1800) family names were not "fixed", so names changed or were altered often. People named themselves after their father, trade...whatever.
Examples: Johnson=son of John, Miller, Baker, Smith, etc, etc.

When someone moved to another village...his name was written down in the church records, but most couldn't write and read...not even their own name. The church bloke wrote down what he heard...more changes, more confusion:rolleyes:

My family name:
Laurie(1540), Laurey, Laureys, Loureis, Loureys, Laureis, Lauwers, Louwersz, Lauws, Laus, Lous(1805 onwards).

The Laurie guy settled in Veere, a Dutch harbor town with the exclusive trading rights with Scotland. It's not sure he came from Scotland, but it's very likely. Scottish traders had a permanent trading post in Veere (now a museum and gift shop)

[cloves]

Gary,
And, one more thing to consider: many German surnames were "Americanized"

Todd

In fact many names were North americanized even way before the great wars. My surname "Steeves" is the anglo version of the German "Stieff."

[McClef]

Steiff the famous makers of teddy bears

[cloves]

Steiff the famous makers of teddy bears

Yes! I heard once that there was a Steiff tartan but I've yet to find record of it.

[McClef]

Found it on the Scottish Tartans Authority website

Steiff tartan: