Dave McCallister
Joined: 14 Jan 2025
Replies: 5
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:43 am
Post subject: Original spelling of Melisch and pronunciation?
Americanized spelling of surname I'm research is Malish. But on various documents I've seen the surname spelled as Melish, Melisch, Mellish, Mahlish, malisch
What would be the original spelling of the name, and how would it have correctly been pronounced?
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SophiaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1533
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:33 am
Post subject: Re: Original spelling of Melisch and pronunciation?
| Dave McCallister wrote: | Americanized spelling of surname I'm research is Malish. But on various documents I've seen the surname spelled as Melish, Melisch, Mellish, Mahlish, malisch
What would be the original spelling of the name, and how would it have correctly been pronounced? |
Hi Dave,
There are several possibilities for the original spelling of the name. For example, if the family's language was Polish, they could have been Malisz, or possibly Melisz. If their language was German, they could have been Malisch. They could have had that first vowel as ä which is also represented sometimes as ae. You may also consider Mehlis. The spellings you have of Malish, Melish and Mellish (all ending in plain sh)seem to me to be anglicized. Your best bet is to take individual ancestors and gather as many primary documents (birth records, marriage records) and take records like census records with a grain of salt. It will be easier to help you with pronunciation once you have a more solid take on the spelling.
Best regards,
Sophia
P.S. In my experience on this forum, some people seem to stop receiving email notifications about replies to their posts after the first two or three notifications, so if you get into a longer conversation here but stop being notified of replies, I would encourage you to come back and check.
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Dave McCallister
Joined: 14 Jan 2025
Replies: 5
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:23 am
Post subject: Original spelling of Melisch and pronunciation?
Yes, they did speak German. But I suspected from their wives maiden names they married (Goralska, Kowalsky) that their origins were in what is now Poland.
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SophiaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1533
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 5:29 am
Post subject:
Yes, looking at your other post on the forum regarding Szamocin, their origins were in what is now Poland but was in the Prussian Partition. Their surname could be rooted in either language, Polish or German. Trish provided some info on where to look for records and you should keep some flexibility in your spelling as you search those indices, until you can zero in on how your family spelled their names.
Good luck in your search,
Sophia
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