What are the origins of the name Goch/Garfinkel?please help 10points2best?

Question

well my grandmother's maiden name is garfinkel and her family is from austria does anyone know the origins from that name

Her surname is Goch my grandfather's family were from austria as well and from what i heard russia

Im just looking for any information free websites that can help me figure out my heritage and possibly found my ancestors

Answer 1

I have found these Free websites to be very useful:

Familysearch.org has a vast collection of family history, census and vital records http://www.familysearch.org/

Rootsweb has user submitted family trees with over 250 million names.

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.co...

Cyndislist is a popular site with extensive links for specific countries and ethnic groups.

http://www.cyndislist.com/

These message boards are forums you can view or post queries by surname or location.  

http://genforum.genealogy.com/

http://boards.rootsweb.com/

Good luck!

Answer 2

All of the following information came from www.ancestry.com

Garfinkel Name Meaning and History

Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name or nickname from Yiddish gorfinkl ‘carbuncle’, German Karfunkel. This term denoted both a red precious or semi-precious stone, especially a garnet or ruby cut into a rounded shape (in which case it is an ornamental name), and a large inflamed growth on the skin like a large boil (in which case it is a descriptive nickname).

Goch Name Meaning and History

North German: habitational name from any of the various minor places which get their names from an ancient Germanic element goch, gog ‘marsh’, ‘bog’, ‘fen’.

Polish: from a pet form of various personal names, such as Goczalek, Goscislaw, or Gotart.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Both surnames are pretty well well spread over several modern-day countries. The Empire of Austria-Hungary was huge a hundred years ago. But the lands were broken up into smaller countries after WWI, WWII and the fall of Communism.

To help you locate your particular lines, you can post their names, approximate years of birth and where they lived when they were in the US. That helps us cross-reference census data with passenger lists from New York, Philadelphia and Boston so that we can identify your actual lineage. If they came over after 1895, their hometown in Europe is probably listed on the passenger lists as well as the name and address of their nearest living relative in "the old country". We just need the first names and other information so that we can point you to the right set of records.

Answer 4

Top Places of Origin for Garfinkel

Place of

Origin Garfinkel Immigrants

Russia 30

Poland 22

Germany 6

Preussen 2

Austria 2

Hungary 1

Places of Origin for Goch

Place of

Origin Goch Immigrants

Germany 11

Preussen 4

Scotland 1

Hungary 1

France 1

England 1

try this website:

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/index....

and there is also  

http://www.myheritage.com/research