The United States of Ap Meryk; Or Why Are There No Amerikens in Amerike

This story's been around awhile, but I've just studied it in depth for the first time. You were taught in school, of course, that America was named after a Welshman, Richard Amerike (or in Welsh, ap Meryk), who was the patron of a Genoan sailor, Giovanni Cabatto ("John Cabot"), who in1497 sailed from England to what he called "New Found Land." No? Or that the Stars and Stripes of the U.S. flag were based on the coat of arms of the Amerike family? Here's the BBC's version.

What I found interesting is that I could find no one in the United States census records named "Amerike" or "ap Meryk." I found eleven persons named "Meryk" in the immigration records; they were all German or Austrian, except one who was from Poland. I found eight persons named "Meryke"; again, all were German except one who was Polish.

18th Century Man Meets Descendant Alive in 21st Century

We would like to find out if there is anyone still alive in America who met a relative that was born in the 18th century.

So read a message in Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's inbox. The redoubtable Megan went to work. Read what she found in Ancestry magazine.

He Certainly Deserves An Eternal Reward

Chris over at The Genealogue frequently spots and highlights unusual names. Recently, he had these (1, 2, 3). I don't know if he's seen the 1880 census for Clinton County, Iowa.

On that census, there's a nineteen year old grocery clerk, the son of German immigrants. Fredrick and Lisette Lindloff apparently named their son "Through." That by itself would be strange, but it gets better. Professor Murray Heller explains in his 1975 introduction to N.N. Puckett's work, Black Names in America, that the young man's full name was Through Much Trial and Tribulation We Enter the Kingdom of Heaven Lindloff.

Born in 1881, "Through" died on March 11, 1947, and presumably fulfilled his eponymous admonition.