This German and Polish surname of KACZMAREK is of two-fold origin. It was a locational name meaning 'the dweller at the stream in the marsh or wasteland'. It was also a German occupational name for an innkeeper, derived originally from the Old German word KRETSCHAM (inn). The word is of Slavic origin, and rendered in Poland in the form KARCZMA. The name has spread widely in many forms which include KREITMAN, KRETZMAN, KRETZSCHMER, KRATSCHMER, KARCZMARSKI, KREITCHMAN, KARCZMAR and KRACMARIK, to name but a few. The first hereditary surnames on German soil are found in the second half of the 12th century, slightly later than in England and France. However, it was not until the 16th century that they became stabilized. The practice of adopting hereditary surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northwards during the Middle Ages. The earliest Polish surnames were patronymic. The personal names from which they were derived were mainly Slavonic, but as the Middle Ages progressed, traditional Slavic given names, began to give way to saint's names, mainly of Latin origin. Surnames derived from Slavonic personal names are of early origin, and tend to be borne by aristocratic families. A notable member of the name was Esther Singer (Mrs KREITMAN), born in 1892. She was the Polish Yiddish novelist, born in Radzmin. Her 'Der sheydim tants' was published in Warsaw in 1936, and translated ten years later as 'Deborah'. Another noteworthy person of the name was Adalbert Raphael KRETZMANN, born on 25th April, 1903. He was a clergyman and Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Luke, Chicago. He was a lecturer on the Fine Arts and Architecture, and author of several religious works. When the first immigrants from Europe went to America, the only names current in the new land were Indian names which did not appeal to Europeans vocally, and the Indian names did not influence the surnames or Christian names already possessed by the immigrants. Mostly the immigrant could not read or write and had little or no knowledge as to the proper spelling, and their names suffered at the hands of the government officials. The early town records are full of these mis-spelt names most of which gradually changed back to a more conventional spelling as education progressed. |
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