Earlier this year I was playing around on the web and did a search on my name, Paul Selinger, to see what I could come up with. I got results but it was not in reference to me, it was in reference to another Paul Selinger living in Texas. I was kind of curious where this other Paul Selinger came from (since I have never met another Selinger) and decided to e-mail him to compliment him on his name and to find out where his family came from. It turns out that he is from Czechoslovakia and moved to the U.S some year ago. We don't have any immediately recognizable common roots but our conversation turned out to be very educational. Here are the e-mails that we sent each other (starting from bottom to top)....

HE WROTE:

Paul,

Thanks for your story about our famous name. It is also interesting, even
though it sounds a bit less credible. Kind of like the one that it is from
Kent of 11th century. The name may be there in some books, but I doubt
that it means its origin. Equally, the Saintleger story may have some true
to it. I remember that someone in Prague told me that the name is what
became Zelinka in Czech. That would be possible, yet the word 'zelinka'
also means someone who is 'zeleny', which means green and refers to someone
unhealthy or sickly (?). So the same name may have multiple origins and
end up being the same after ages of use. As an example, my friend here in
Texas is Hutyra, very Czech name. Yet in his home town of Waco, where the
name is very common, most people try to call him Gutierrez, which is a
close pronunciation of an 'unpronounceable' (for Anglos) name. Funny
stuff.

I am glad that you sent me your note. I have often wondered about the
stories behind others' Selingers name, but wasn't sure if it would be
appropriate with Americans. It certainly is welcome with me.

Regards,
Paul P Selinger




I WROTE:


Interesting stuff! I like the story about where the name came from. I
actually got a different story from a book that got sent to us from someone
who decided to document and track Selingers all over the U.S. (the story is
kind of like yours, although less convincing). The book suggested that
the name came from a French town that bordered Austria/Germany. The town
was called St. Leger (I'm not sure if it still exists) and the people from
the town were called Saintleger...and eventually Salinger or Selinger??
Obviously not as convincing as your story. It is possible that there is
some truth to the St.Leger story, but yours holds more water.

Our Selinger family came over to the U.S from a town in Southern Germany in
mid 1800's and settled on Long Island. The town in Germany was called
Merdingen and is located South of Strasburg and North of Freiburg. The
Selingers there were probably a mix of Catholic and Lutheran since there is
a mix of both in our Selinger family (My Great-Grandparents who were
distant cousins and both Selingers were not of the same religion). Around
the time I was born my father decided to go visit our relatives near
Merdingen and find out more about the family (My mother, who is French,
spoke perfect German and translated for him). He learned a lot about the
family and found that the name was also spelled a few different ways;
Sehlinger, Seelinger, and Sellinger. He asked a Postman if the name
Selinger was familiar, and the man expressed that it was the most common
name in the area.

The area around Merdingen was resettled after the Thirty years war (around
1648) and we suspect that our family arrived there from Austrian territory
around that time. We don't know where in Austria they came from and we
would like to find out.

Unlike you I've never met a Selinger outside of my extended family so I
find it interesting when I do hear of them. I was familiar with the fact
that there are many Selinger's that are Jewish. My best friend, who is
Jewish, laughs at the fact that I might be of Jewish descendancy because of
my Physical features (6' 2", blond hair, blue eyes). He nick names me
Selingoy as a joke (a goy (sp?) is a derogatory Yiddish word for non-jew).
Now I have some more proof for him.

All this is very interesting...thanks for writing me back!

Paul S Selinger






HE WROTE:

Paul,
I am a first generation American (sworn in as a citizen just over a year
back). I was born in Prague, Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia), which
until W.W.I was part of the Austrian monarchy for some 300 years. So in
some way you can say that I have Austrian roots... I also ran into the
name in Sweden, where I lived for seven years after escaping the commies,
and the family there was Jewish, from Hungary. Hungary was also part of
the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. (If you know all of this European history
stuff, I apologize for sounding so mentoring). Here at IBM there are two
more Selingers, one I know is also Jewish from somewhere in Central Europe.
I have found the name in Kent, England, of 11th century, but the most
likely origin is German. There is a town in central Germany named Seeling
(see means sea or large lake, and there are plenty of large lakes in that
part of Germany). Seelinger would be a person coming from Seeling. In
medieval times, the only people allowed to move through Europe were those
who were not owned by their local feudal ruler, but directly by the king.
The Jews were a typical example of this 'middle class' of merchants and
artisans. The local population usually worked with farming. I have to
point out that Jews in Europe have been viewed more as an ethnic group than
just a religious one. Lately, the religious uniqueness has diminished
almost fully. But Jewish names are or were those suggesting a place of
origin, like Berliner, Prager, or Seelinger, due to this freedom of
movement. Seelinger probably became Selinger and, once the name reached
the shores of America, Salinger and Sellinger. Hope you are not bored to
death by now.
Regards,
Paul