Origin of my name?

Question

what is the origin of the name Fowl. Im German and Hungarian. I know my mothers grandmother came here from Budapest, and met another hungairan man by the name of vargo. My fathers mothers maiden name was borowhitz.

I don't know my fathers dad's history. I'm assuming he was the Fowl because the male name carries through history.

could someone help me solve this?

Was my name shortened upon arrival to the US

Answer 1

Unfortunately, Ancestry doesn't provide any origin or meaning for the Fowl spelling.  For the Faul surname, however, here's what it says:  

FAUL Name Meaning and History

1.  Irish or Scottish: reduced form of McFaul.

2.  English: variant of Fall 2.

3.  South German: from a byname for a weakling, from Middle High German vul, voul ‘frail’, ‘decayed’, ‘foul’, ‘weak’. Later the term took on the meaning ‘lazy’ and in some cases the surname may have arisen from this sense.

The McFaul link (bullet #1 above) takes one to McPhail, which is Scottish and Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phàil (Scottish) and Mac Phóil (Irish), patronymics from Gaelic forms of the personal name Paul.

The Fall link (from bullet #2 above) says:

FALL Name Meaning and History

1. Scottish or Irish: reduced form of McFall.

2. English: topographic name for someone who lived by a waterfall, declivity, or forest clearing, Middle English fall (from Old English (ge)fall ‘a felling of trees’, Old Norse fall ‘forest clearing’).

3. German: topographic name from Middle High German val ‘fall (of trees)’; in some cases ‘waterfall’ or ‘landslide’, or a habitational name from a minor place named with this word, or in Tyrol from Ladine val ‘valley’.

4. African: unexplained.

As for why names were shortened when our ancestors came to the US, sometimes it was because the recordkeeper at the immigration point misunderstood the immigrant's name and/or wrote some semblance of what they thought they heard.  But most of the time, it was the immigrants themselves who adapted their surnames in order to "sound American."  Here's a site to learn more about that phenomena:  http://life.familyeducation.com/genealog...

I hope that helps!

Answer 2

Faul means 'lazy' in German.

Answer 3

Statistically, very few people had their name shortened or changed when they immigrated. It is more of a myth than fact. It is more likely they changed their name later to assimilate.

I will assume your parents were in the U.S. prior to 1930, if that is the case you can easily find out how their name was spelled every 10 years by looking at the census records. These are some of the most widely available records and easy to locate. The new search engines make it simple to check for variations. You can access these for free at any Family History Center (check on line at www.familysearch.org for the closest one to you).

If your ancestors immigrated in recent history their immigration and naturalization papers should be available.

You say you don't know your grandfather's history. Ask anyone who knew him or your grandmother about him, even if they only guess it can give you insights. Finding out about your grandmother can also give you clues to your grandfather, their lives were intertwined. Generally they were close to the same age, they often lived in the same place prior to marriage. They were usually of the same heritage and religion.

If the name carries through history why do you think it's different? With a little more information we can give you more assistance. :-)

Answer 4

This is just one origin of the name Fowl,  it shows how names were altered, or developed, to form other variant spellings from the original. This happened in every country,

and sometimes it was done to make a name fit in with language of a foreign country.

Surname: Fowle, Fowell, Fowl.

This interesting and uncommon name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century word "fugol", fowl, bird, which was used as a byname and as a personal name. The personal name is recorded in the Winton Rolls of 1066, from Hampshire, as "Fugel", and first appears as a surname in the mid 12th Century as below. The medieval form of the word was the Middle English development "foul, fowl(e)", used as a continuation of the Old English personal name and also as a nickname for someone who in some way resembled a bird. The modern surname from this source has a number of variant forms, ranging from Gowle, Fowell, Fuggle and Vowell to the patronymics Fowl(e)s, Vowel(l)s, Vouls and Fuggles. One Nicholas le Fowel is recorded in the Worcestershire Subsidy Rolls of 1275. The marriage of John Fowle and Judyth Lyndeth was recorded on September 6th 1579 at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Wuluard Fugel, which was dated 1166, in the Pipe Rolls of Kent, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. . Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Answer 5

The logical and reliable way is to find valid records about your ancestors. I assume that you know when and where your father was born? What that means is obviously Dad was in the area, at least within the year prior to the birth. Assuming grandpa and grandma married, it should be reasonable to look at fact relating to dad, in order to narrow down the place and time to search.

The US census is open for research up to 1930, so that is the direction you will be heading. Several of those will provide the year of immigration and the place of birth. Voila. If grandpa was naturalized citizen, then you also can run those records down.

You will simply need to look at what records there are about grandpa, keeping an open mind that there could be an alternate spelling among the records.

If you would re post your question.. you can provide the details that you have -name, date, place is most important. If dad is living, don't post his personal info.