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Re: Paetkau, origin and meaning...
in reply to a message by Getb2
My first guess is NE Germany, particularly the state of Prussia (Preußen). After WW2 Germany (the state of Prussia) lost a lot of territory to Poland and Russia. People moved around so they could be from anywhere but I would guess the origin is Prussia and it got misspelled when they emigrated from Europe to N America. Happens a lot. Original spelling I can't guess unless I hear how they pronounce it. But many European and other surnames are anglicized in pronunciation. Second guess is the former Austro-Hungarian empire which was disassembled after WW1. My guess overall is it is Germanic. Third guess is Nordic or Scandinavian but really doubt it.There are generic German surnames like Schmidt, Müller, etc. Then there are distinctly regional like Prussian, Alscatian, Southern German (e.g., Bavarian), etc. Also, physical appearance sometimes varies regionally.
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