Spelling Variations of our Name

 

Küschwert Küspert
Kispert Kisaberth
Kisabeth Kisseberth
Kissenberth

 

                Since the first written records of our medieval surname Küschwert appeared in the 1400's I have found 74 different spellings of our name. We all tend to think of our names as permanent and unchangeable in their spelling, that is, until we get started in genealogy. Then, after a brief time looking at old records, we discover how, without much effort, the name can be spelled numerous ways.

            Take my name Kisabeth, for example.  In researching the name I have found that our current name Kisabeth alone has had over 60 changes in spelling since the early days.

 To understand why we encounter so many spelling variations we must go back to the early record keeping methods. As we go back in history, we find fewer and fewer people who could write or even knew how the family name was spelled. They simply stated their names and the rest was up to the person recording the name.  When the name was spoken, it was written down just as it sounded to him, and seldom was concerned about the spelling used by the family. This is very much true in census records. In the 1850 Federal census of Ohio our name Kisseberth was spelled the following ways Kisabard, Kisaberd, Kissaberd and Kissaburd.

            Very often, one branch of the family will adopt a variation as its own spelling. There are, for example, the surnames of Kisseberth and Kissenberth. Both of these lines come directly from the common ancestor Alexander Küschwert (Kisibert) in Kirch Brombach, Odenwald, Hessen, Germany in the late 16th century. One of the sons of Alexander took the name Kisseberth while the older brother took Kissenberth.

We find the German names of Küspert and Kispert often interchangeable, even in the same family. In the town of Marktredwitz in the Fichtelgebirge in Northeast Bavaria we find a Christoph Wilhelm Küspert, born in 1848 as the son of Johann Wolfgang Kispert. Also in the nearby village of Oberredwitz Johann Nikolaus Küspert was the son of Johann Georg Kispert of Unterthölau. We find several examples of this between the small villages in the Fichtelgebirge. I hope to explain the Küspert/Kispert subject later on in our research project. 

Back in the mid 1500's the daughters of Jacob Küschwert of the village of Sinatengrün near Wunsiedel were listed as follows; Margaretha Küschwert born 1543, Katharina Küschwert born 1548, and Dorothea Küspert born 1550.  This is another example that shows the Küschwert/Küspert connection. The ancestors of Holger Küspert are from Marktredwitz in the Fichtelgebirge. He points out an interesting fact, that in the Fichtelgebirge the name Küspert is generally pronounced "Küschbert", because the Bavarian pronunciation for "sp" is mostly "schb", which might be another indication of the old spelling "Küschwert.  

 In over 100 years of family research conducted by Friedrich Wilhelm Kisseberth (1880-his son the late Dr. med. Fritz Wilhelm Kisseberth (1914-1995) and myself, it is the belief that the following 74 spellings come from the old surname Küschwert:

 

 

Küschwert                  Küschwerdt                Küsswert  

Küswert                      Kühschwerd                Küschward

Kueschwert                Kueswerd                    Kueswert

Kueschwart                Kuswert                       Kuhsvert 

Kuschwerth                Kussesswert               Kußwerth 

Kwswerdt                    Kwswert                     Kuiswirt

Khuschwerdt              Kuschwertt                 Kußwarth

Kueschwerdt              Kueschwertin             Kuiswirth

Kwschwerten             Kuschwirth                 Kischwert

Kischwerd                   Kieschwerdt               Kueschwerd

Kwschwertt                 Kuebschwert              Kisebartus

Kuheschwert              Khueschwert              Kuspert

Küspert                      Kuespert                     Kusperth

Küsperth                     Kispert                        Kisperth

Kisibert                       Kusßer                        Kissibert

Kissebert                    Kihsibert                     Kihsebert

Kiesebert                    Kiesenbert                  Kihseberth

Kisebert                      Kiehsenberth              Kißpert

Kißbert                        Kisbert                       Kißeberth

Kißebert                      Kiespert                     Kiispert

Kisseberth                  Kissenberth                Kiseberth

Kisaberth                    Kissaberth                  Kisabet

Kisabeth                      Kisabard                     Kisaberd

Kissaberd                    Kissaburd                   Kissabeth

Kisserberth                 Kuschbert

 

Home