Revision as of 18:52, 20 August 2013 by GameoAdmin (Talk |
contribs)  Jump to: navigation, search  Eatjenomes, or
nicknames, were used among the Mennonites, as among other
groups, to identify or describe more exactly a person or a
family, or to differentiate one family from another. The
Mennonite Low German Eatjenome does not stem from Eajennome
(Eigenname), but finds its origin in ekename, which means a
"name added" to a given name. In earliest times an ekename was a
surname, and even in the word "surname" we have the same meaning
in the French sur, which means "over" or "above," a name "over
and above" the first name.  Occupations were and are a common
source for nicknames: e.g., "Schusta-Schallenboajch" (Shoemaker
Schellenberg); "Stoa" or "Lauftje" Jaunze ("Stoa" from the
English "store," and "Lauftje" from the Russian "lavka");
"Tjnibla-Wiebe" (Chiropracter Wiebe). "Schriewa Ditj" or "Dichta
Ditj" were names frequently applied to the writer Arnold Dyck.
Physical or other descriptive attributes were anoth