View Message

As EMB said the Amish use many Biblical names (such as Naomi, Lydia, Esther, Peter, John, etc.) There are also other names that are popular among the Amish that seem odd to me, like Barbie, Sadie and Rosanne.

---

For surnames, you say you've only seen 5 or 8 - I'm sure there are more than that, but I'm always surprised how few there are. The ones that come to mind are King, Miller, Stoltzfus and Yoder. It would be interesting to know what percentage of Amish families have one of these last names!

---

(As a note: I'm in Pennsylvania and I know a few Amish families personally. It may be different for Amish in other parts of the county, like Ohio or Indiana.)

Many Amish I have come in contact with use Biblical names. They use the term "English" to refer to anyone who isn't Amish. They don't necessarily mean English as in the nationality. So while something like Esther is a common name used by the Amish, something like Amy or Kaylee would be considered "English"

Apologize for the following off topic remark: The Dutch in Pennsylvania Dutch (as well as Dutch as in people from Holland) originally meant any Germanic people (ultimately from Indo-european tewteH, meaning tribe). The Pennsylvania Dutch have little connection with Netherlands as far as I know, so calling their language Dutch (as in "Dutch names") in contexts like this is confusing: using the full form "Pennsylvania Dutch" would disaambiguate.