Amish names
Which are the most frequently-seen Amish surnames? Â What about first names? Â What kinds of nicknames do Amish use? Â Read more here on Amish names.
Swartzentruber Amish
The Swartzentruber Amish are among the most tradition-minded Old Order peoples The Swartzentruber Amish affiliation came about in Ohio in 1917. Â Today Swartzentruber Amish are considered among the “lowest” of Amish affiliations. Swartzentruber communities can be found in over a dozen states, though their population is highest in Holmes County, Ohio, where they live side-by-side with more progressive Amish. Facts about the Swartzentruber Amish: Swartzentruber…
Do we romanticize the Amish?
When I first began spending time with the Amish, I felt like I was entering another world. Â I would drive my car from gritty Decatur, Illinois, where I was living for the summer while selling books, 45 minutes southeast to the farms, fields and fresh air of Moultrie County. Crossing into “Amish territory”, it seemed like I passed through an invisible border. Â Much of what…
Austin, Jenna, Ethan? Changing Trends in Amish Baby Names
Amish baby-naming customs draw upon several sources. Many baby names are what you could term “traditional” names (Biblical names and family names). But in certain communities, the choice of baby name can also be affected by modern, non-Amish naming trends. Of course, in some settlements and groups they are going to stick with mostly or exclusively traditional names, but in the more progressive places, you…
im wondering as to how many who were non-amish have joined the amish church say in the last 50 years?. are thier numbers anywhere for that to be found?.
i have also thought about becoming amish. but one of the things that bothers me is if i do will i ever be able to see my english family and if i can will i have to see them seperate. i think that the amish life style is very peace ful and calming.
Hi Richard,,,, not sure about this but I think there was a post title, “So you want to join the Amish” or something along those lines that might have the numbers you are interested in. Seems to me I remember there have only been a few hundred that have actually joined and stayed with the Amish.
I can not imagine that being an easy task if you were raised in the secular world. I have thought about this many times as I am becoming more “plain” in my life but not sure I could adjust to a few things. Don’t think I would have a problem giving up a lot of technology, except I use it quite a bit for my ceramics and crafts business. As for “personal” use I would have no problem though.
Rethinking your beliefs as far as religion goes, might also be hard especially if you were raised in a specific denomination and never left it before.
Should be interesting to see just how many “join” and then stay and not give up after a year or two.
Blessings, Alice
Here is the link to that other post Richard. https://amishamerica.com/so_you_want_to_/ it really doesn’t have numbers in there but I get the impression it is just a few hundred at best.
Regarding Holmes County, Ohio, the 2010 Amish Directory has a recorded number of sirnames as follows:
75 Total Sirnames. The largest sirname is Miller with 1,790 families, followed by Yoder with 1,214 families. Other sirnames in Holmes County are Barkman, Beachy, Bowman, Chupp, Coblentz, Erb, Gingerich, Hershberger, Hochstetler, Mast, Kuhns, KAuffman, Keim, Weaver, Shetler, Swartzentruber, etc. Popular first names in Holmes County for men are Eli, Roy, Atlee, Moses, David, Andy,Reuben, Levi, Ivan, Jonas, John. Amish always use a middle initial to indicate the first letter of the mans fathers name to distinguish what family he was born to. Ecample. Eli J. Miller means his fathers name could have been Jonas. Womens first names commonly used are Esta, Fannie, Ada Mae, Edna, Miriam, Esther, Sarah, Emma, Verna and Mary.
thank you alice for the link. you bring up a great question regarding how many have stayed amish after joining the church. i wonder if erik has/will find out the answer to that question. has anyone been interviewed yet on that topic?, if not i smell a book in the works,lol.
Hey guys, good question, you know there’s not a perfect figure but over the past century I believe it is in the maybe 100 to couple hundred range.
Mein name is Hannah. I was Amish. My schwisterns names are-Rachel,Naomi,Lizzie,Beckie,Mary Ruth,Anna,Clara und Miriam.Mein bruders names are-Ephraim, Moses,Isaac,Elam und Aaron.These names are common in mein old district. I also have a daughter named Anna Mae and mein husband is named Jonas. These names were common in his old district.
hi,
i know that not all amish people came frome zwitserland
whe have some families stil overhere in holland (netherlands)
i know that some of them went to south africa instead of the USA
even in times of the second world war some of my jewish forefathers changed their religion into amish
because the nazi’s didn’t “hate” the amish
but they went and left europe anyway
my cousins names are also eli,levi,jonah and amos and the last name is not particulary jewish
they have changed the last name in 1939 into kauffman it was beaard before
since 10 yrs whe have lost contact
so there have been a connection
i’ve always wandered how they new about the names since they have been living here in holland and belgium not in the usa as far as i know ?!
Origin of my name
My father named me after one of his best friends who happened to be Amish. I was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania in a little town called teepleville. I can remember a large Amish community around there. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the origin or meaning of my first name.