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Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 4 Mar 2015 12:24AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi All

So, I have "Simon Winicke" with his wife and young daughter leaving from Hamburg Germany in 1884 immigrating to Canada. This from the Hamburg Ships Register

But I am not sure this is the correct spelling and for sure once they arrive in Canada the variants of this surname are just too much! Vanisky-Venisky, Veneski-Veneskie, Vaninsky- Veninsky, Veninski ...and the list goes on and on!!!

So W in Polish is V in English I get that but what was the Polish name to start with? As when I look for Wenicke there are just a very few even in the old records for West Prussia??

Thoughts anyone??

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 7 Mar 2015 2:31PM GMT
Classification: Query
I would make a guess it should be Wernicke. There are more than 1100 entries in dastelefonbuch for this name - not a tremendous number amongst 80m but it exists. There were many "German" Poles - often German speaking as well as German names because a large part of Poland was in the German Empire at that time. Might be worth trying that variation.

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 11:28AM GMT
Classification: Query
You did not state why you believe this name to be Polish. It is important to go by the sound of the name during this time rather than the spelling...people were obviously hearing something different than Wernicke if they were using all these weird spellings for this one particular family.

The other poster may not have been correct if, in fact, the name is Polish, because in German the icke part of the name would be pronounce ick or ick-a in our English language, making the GERMAN named Wernicke be pronounced vur-nick-uh. If you've got the insky sound at the end the you've definitely got some Eastern European in there. With Eastern European the W would still be pronounced V and any sky sound is typically spelled ski with the sound of skee. The spellings you are showing don't account for an r sound in the middle of the name as it does with the Wernicke spelling. Euro name endings are typically spelled ski instead of sky (which is a westernized spelling). The only question seems to be whether there is an n sound in the middle or of the name or not -- which you are showing sometimes being there. So the name is either Weniski or Weninski, with my money on the first one.

Go to familysearch.org and put in Weniski with no place of origin and see what places pop up.
https://familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&...~

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 12:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Nur ein Vorschlag! ich nehme an Sie sprechen fliessend Deutsch und Polnisch? Auch - was genau bedeutet "Eastern European"? Polnisch? Ukrainisch?, Czechisch? Russisch? In addition Wernicke would not be pronounced Vur-nick-uh. Ver (as in "air" or "where") - nick - e (more like a in Aha). "e" on the end can sound exactly the same - girl's name Ute or Uta - no difference in pronounciation but the "e" on the end would always be sounded. - "icke" would never be pronounced as "ick" - und was genau ist ein "Euro name ending"? Soll "Euro" eine neue Sprache sein?

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 5:03PM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you for the input

On the Canadian census the Wenicke surname appears as:
Venicky (1891 census), born Germany
Vanesky (1901 census) born Germany ethnic origin Polish
Venisky (1911 census) born Germany ethnic origin Polish
Veniske (1916 census) born German Poland ethnic origin Polish
Vininski (1921 census) born Poland ethnic origin Polish

And on documentation for this family (marriage of children) the surname varies greatly too so there was no firm version once they got to Canada! But I never see the "W" again in any documentation I have found

Obviously spelled how it was heard or pronounced.

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 8:00PM GMT
Classification: Query
The last name Wernicke, Wernecke arose from the North-German form of the first name "Werner".

Re: Wenicke/Winicke what exactly is the correct spelling for this surname and is this a Polish name????

Posted: 8 Mar 2015 11:37PM GMT
Classification: Query
I would suggest that it is possible that the letter W disappeared simply because it is pronounced in both Polish and German more like V in English and they just got fed up with trying to explain that it should be a W when the people they were speaking to heard a distinct V and wrote it like that. Just made life in a strange land a bit easier!. I know how frustrating it can be to find a name spelt in various ways - I have found my maiden name spelt at least seven different ways. It is a Spanish name - quite clearly so, confined mostly to Catalonia and the Balearics, but there is not one trace of Spanish connections anywhere in the family. My gt.gt grandfather was married in Holy Trinity Church (solid Anglican) in 1797 and is described as a "Yeoman". Searching has brought no definite answers except that it turns up in Cornwall in the 16th century - and Cornwall County Archives think it is Cornish Gaelic - but even that hasn't stopped seven different ways of spelling. All very interesting. Anyway - good luck with your future hunting.
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