Posted By:	Jerry Frank
	Email:
	Subject:	Re: info on Polish surname Bachman
	Post Date:	June 29, 2009 at 07:03:59
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/poland/messages/47528.html
	Forum:	Poland Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/poland/

Evona, It is certainly possible to be ethnically Polish but have a Germanic surname and vice versa. I have the surname Girschewski in my ancestry which sounds very Polish but the family is ethnically German. The questions to arise are when, why and perhaps how. And these cannot be answered with the general info you provide. Your answer will come through tracing your family backwards one step at a time until you arrive at information about the change or a roadblock that indicates that is where a change took place. This certainly involves also checking into their religious roots. Tracing the family will determine if there are indeed Jewish connections. There are lots of rumors about Jewish origins but few of them turn out to be true - unless of course you can prove it with your research. If the family was Lutheran, then there is a good chance they really were Germans though this is not a guarantee. Similar, being Catholic might suggest being Polish but again not a guarantee. You will find your answers in the details but don't jump too far back too soon. Follow the trail to wherever it leads you. Jerry