Posted on: Vanderburgh County, IN Query Forum
Reply Here:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/In/Vanderburgh/1277
Surname: Darmstadt, Knussmann, Sieben
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From my research of the name, which basically amounted to a German
phone
book density search for the surname Darmstadt (a few years ago when that
utility was still on the net) the major hotspot for the surname Darmstadt
was in the Rheinhessen are of the Pfalz, west of the Rhein from Mainz in
the north to Alzey in the south.
This location is not surprising in that it is just across the Rhein from
the city of Darmstadt. What is surprising though, and thus makes this surname
rarer than it could be, is that it is not "Darmstadter" which would be
the technically correct name for someone named as being from the city of
Darmstadt.
My specific Darmstadt line is from Ebersheim, now Mainz-Ebersheim, but
I know that the name Darmstadt pops up in quite a few villages around there
too, including with another rare surname, Knussmann, as well as the slightly
more popular Sieben.
If you have a full name of your Darmstadt ancestor, and a birthdate, I
will be willing to compare it with the list of Darmstadts I have found
in Ebersheim (up to circa 1870), or you can also check the LDS IGI online
catalog which has many of the churchbooks in the area indexed. (
www.familysearch.com)
With regard to your question about any Darmstadts still living, I know
that some do as you can see by checking a US phone book (
switchboard.com
anywho.com yahoo.com) but the name is not so rare as to expect that they
may be related to your lines before the 1700's.
Link: Sieben's family web site
URL: <
http://www.io.com/~tweek/siebens/>