Toachim, anyone?

[Mr Veritas]

Thanks to the varios Census,Free BMD etc pages,I have discovered an ancestor called:~

Toachim Brathering (some name eh?)

Can anyone tell me if Toachim is a Jewish firdt name?

[Jan1957]

Don't know the answet Mr V but very cool name.

[Mr Veritas]

Isn't it just Jan,
It's my Gt Grandmother's Brother.
They originated in Hanover,Germany.

Even odder,I am not Jewish,but my wife was.She became Christian to marry me (in Germany) in 1948,
I had no idea then that I might have Jewish ancestry! LOL

[dot.hawkes]

you should look at the Anglo-German FHS website.
http://www.agfhs.org.uk/
I havn;t been a member for 15 years, before computer indexing went big! Bet they have lots of info now.
I havn;'t found much on the name at all at the moment

[ladyalex]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but it couldn't be a misprint/misreading of JOACHIM could it ?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_(disambig uation)

[dot.hawkes]

actually that occurred to me too ladyalex, it depends if it was a transctiption error, if it is on a certificate or in the BMD index (filmed) it is probably correct.

[Buenchico]

I've tried wading through page after page of Google hits for 'Toachim'. (Yes, I know it's crude but it can quite often be effective).

The only references to 'Toachim' as a forename (rather than as a surname) seem to be almost exclusively German. Perhaps the name is/was a German variation on 'Joachim' which is, of course, a Jewish name but which finds its way into Christianity through the possibility of it being the name of Christ's grandfather. (Maternal, for obvious reasons!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim

Googling 'Brathering' immediately throws up hits showing it to be German for fried herring. Since the English surname 'Herring' is derived from someone being a dealer in herring, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suspect that 'Brathering' has similar roots as a German surname. ('Brathering' does not appear in Reaney & Wilson's 'A Dictionary of English Surnames', which adds further credence to the suggestion that it has foreign origins).

So a Jewish link might seem to be tenuous at best, but a German one seems to be extremely likely.

Chris

[Mr Veritas]

Although he wasn't born here,he was married here.
I have seen (now) the original marriage papers (and others) relating to thim,and it's definitely Toachim,that's why I asked as it's such an odd name.

[Mr Veritas]

Thanks Chris,
That was most informative and thought provoking.

[Buenchico]

Oh, I was researching and typing while you were posting. I see that you're already well aware of the German connection! ;-)

[Mr Veritas]

Yes,but thanks anyway Chris,it's all grist to the mill.
BTW my wife refuses to be known as Mrs FriedHerring! LOL

[Mr Veritas]

Thanks also to DOt,that link is most interesting,and I shall go into it more deeply soon.