Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

THANK YOU ! I was always told my ancestors were POLISH ethnic living in Germany and I was always told to be proud to be Polish, I just thought they may have been Kashub because of where they were living.

So they were likely Polish, NOT Kashub? Because it would make more sense if they were Polish, that is what I was always told.

My proof is that I was always told by my Grandmother and Mother that they were Poles living there. And I thank all of you for taking the time to view my post and reply. =)

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Thank you, I will try to find out as much as I can. Don't know if this counts, but I found my ancestors on ancestry.com, I am now a paid member. They were Poles (as told) and they were living in Germany throughout the 1800s. Some in Berlin.

And thanks to this PolishForums site I know a bit more about the surname itself. Thank you all.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Neat. I found that my Dobbert ancestors were from Neustrelitz =) the family they married into however, were very German and they were the ones from Berlin.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Does anyone know anything interesting about Neustrelitz? I never knew what town my ancestors were from until digging up some records on ancestry.com this morning.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Thank you for the information, I didn't know that much about the town, i'm very thankful to all of you =)

Do you think some Doberskis or some Doberczaks made their way into Neusterlitz and changed their names? I was always told they were Poles, and now I know the town! I'm piecing my ancestry together. I find it fascinating to be brutally honest.

Oh, I should add their surname was DOBERT. not DOBBERT. Actually some records say it was dobert, others dobbert. Ancestry is always tricky. For some odd reason they may have changed it from dobert to dobbert when they came to America. All I know for sure is they were from Eastern Germany (various places, mainly Neustrelitz) I'm starting to think that there may have been even another name change, originally from Doberski, Doberczak or Doberczuk to Dobert. As I was always told they were Poles who had been forced by the partition to live in Germany and assimilate, or they were Poles that had moved there at one point. Unfortunetly I am limited to how far back I can go through my research, because eventually you get to the point where the only records on ancestry.com are the census ones that won't tell you their parents, thus disabling you to go further down the line to see what their original name was. At this point it may just be best to rely on what I have always been told, at least now I know the various German towns they were living in, and thanks to friendly users on this website also more about the surname itself.

Though, I definetly encourage users to reply to this thread with more information if you happen to find it, I am not calling this one case-closed. I would especially like to know how to solve my conundrum, about how I am limited on how far back I can go. If there is a way to get past that obstacle, pray tell.

Thank you all.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Thanks for all the advice 'TheOther' you have been of help to me. By now I know from records they were ethnically Polish living in these German towns, just as my Family has always told me. Good to know I wasn't lied to. It would of course be even more interesting if I could go back further, at least so I could know more names, dates and what Religion they were. I will look into this.

Again thanks to all that had helped me. A friendly site =)

UK, Ireland / The Changing Attitude Towards the Poles in Ireland [21]

A shame, being of both Irish ancestry from my Father and Polish from my Mother I find it saddening there is an 'us and them' attitude emerging between these two great cultures.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Just an update, I found a tree on ancestry.com, these aren't nearly as reliable as census and passenger records, but i'm taking a look at it. The Uploader claims that what I believe to be are my ancestors were from Żuławki (former Prussia, modern day Poland)

The tree also claims I have ancestors who went by the name Wendt, which I looked up and is a German surname to describe the Wends, y'know, the Sorbs. So I could possibly have Sorb ancestry. Another interesting thing is Żuławki seems to be not too far from Kashubia, I wonder how many Poles live in Żuławki? If not many, than my ancestors may have been Kashubs. I won't jump to conclusions, I have sent a PM to the owner of the tree who's last login was apparently today and he seems to be a good Genealogist. I'll keep you guys updated.

Update: It's not them I don't think.

Anyways thanks for everything guys.

Because of this friendly forum I was able to more easily conclude my Dobbert ancestors were from various East German towns and were ethnically Polish, also thanks to passenger records I found that said so. So what I was always told was true. I also discovered thanks to this forum when they came to Germany they likely changed the name from Doberski, Doberczak, Dobera or Doberczuk to Dobbert.

Thanks guys.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

hah. I'm sure he meant West Slavic.

Also, are you suggesting my origins are Wendish, Wlodzmierz?

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Incredible! Thanks for the link! I am proud of my Dobbert roots :D

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

By now I know I am not Kashub or Silesian. I could be Wendish or Polish. I found Doberskis in my line. Doberski sounds very Polish to me, do Wendish names end with -ski?

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

I don't really like being a Mongrel :( would this make every one a Mongrel in the end?

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

It would only make sense that it is Polish, it is what I was told! I was never told I was Wendish/Silesian/Kashub but I got the idea I might be Wendish out of nowhere and wanted to see if my Polish roots seem more Wendish. It appears they seem Polish though, especially Doberski. I am going to call this case closed, i'm Polish. Of course no one is ever 100% certain of anything, but it would only make sense.

To add on to this when I took a DNA test I have a lot of Polish blood, even though these aren't always 100% accurate, it sheds more light on my Polishness.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Well, then no one person can really call themselves Polish. Not even those who inhabit Poland, in that case. But as my Parents and Grandparents have always told me to be proud to be Polish I cannot let them down, it would be hard to, I love the Polish culture and i'm proud I am Polish.

From what you say, localities are much more important, so it would be crucial to find out what part of Poland Doberski originates. But I am certain it is NOT Lemko. :P

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

I found that my Doberski ancestors changed their name to Dobbert in the late 1800s in Germany. Then they arrived in the U.S. and kept it that way. Thank you for the information on where the surname originates, and therefore likely where my ancestors lived.

Also, what have you done for Poland? Just wondering.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

And what is your last name? Could be Jewish too. You see, no one is certain about everything That is why I just go with what I was told, which is I am Polish, and my Doberski ancestors claimed they were as well so it is enough for me to consider myself Polish.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

what do you mean uncertain? In their records my Doberski ancestors claimed they were Polish, and it is what I was always told. I couldn't be more certain. And how certain are you? What makes you so certain that you are Polish that doesn't make me certain that I am? Please explain. o.0

I don't know who made you the judge of who is Polish and who isn't. Prove YOU are Polish.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Not to my knowledge. You still haven't proved to me that you yourself are Polish. And just because the surname is more uncommon does not mean it is not Polish. How common is your surname?

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

I don't think delphiandomine is all that popular as I can see from his threads, so I won't take anything he says too seriously.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Prove to me you are Polish.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

If Records that say that they are Polish isn't verifying it, then what would verify that they were? Tell me so I can know what to look for.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Actually my Polish roots are only a few generations away, Americans like to know our roots because we were not the indigenous people to this land so we go by what our ancestors were. To answer your question.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

I'd prefer if we stayed on topic about the surname. It saddens me that people like delphiandomine come with negative views. I understand it may be Jewish, though he doesn't have to be rude about it. How about you, theother? I thought you were a nice guy at first, you had helped me at the beginning of the thread. Can we all get along? I don't like arguing with others.

Also, does anyone know about the surname Dobrowski? I found it in my line.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Can we please stay on topic?

Sorry, posted this before you edited.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

No, say does it cost anything to check the LDS database? Also, thank you for the link. I have also talked to my living ancestors and they speak of Dabrowski and Dobrowskis in our line, as well as the more recent Doberski in my line.

I'm trying to get more info. So far I know most of my ancestors were from Eastern Germany and were labeled as ethnic Poles. I'm thinking my original ancestors were either the Dabrowskis or Dobrowskis, but I wouldn't understand how that name would change to 'Doberski' which does sound Jewish and I will admit most with the name are labeled as Jews. But Dabrowski and Dobrowski there aren't as many Jews.

Possibility my ancestors were Poles that wanted to be Jewish? Doesn't make much sense, back then there was very much anti-Semitism. I'm beginning to think the religions of my ancestors went back and forth from Jewish and Christian. Tis' a bit confusing.

I have also come to an interesting theory that there were never any 'Doberski' in my line, but instead Dabrowski, and Dobrowski. After all I only found Doberski on ancestry.com, my living ancestors never spoke of Doberski, in fact they never told me the Polish surnames except for Dobbert, but now a few various Uncles speak of Dabrowski and Dobrowski surnames. What I need to know is the origin of these names, and if these names are Polish, Jewish, Wendish, what not. I looked it up and 'Dabrowski' is actually a very common surname in Poland even to this day.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Thank you.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Thank you delphiandomine and TheOther. You see, we can discuss this peacefully. :)

TheOther, seeing as it is not too much money i'll see what I can do, it's also good to know it is normal that I have found quite a few variations of this one name in my line, a relief.

deplphiandomine, I will look into Daberski, would make sense. I will also look into Dombrowski.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

It seemed like there were tensions between you, wlodzmierz, delphiandomine and myself. But now those tensions have disappeared it seems.

Dąbrowski, I do believe by now was my Family's original name, and was changed to Dobbert in Eastern Germany over the years. That is why when they came to America they came as 'Dobbert'.

As for Doberski, it factors in because I found records of my ancestors as 'Doberski' but I think the Germans maybe were pronouncing 'Dąbrowski' wrong and instead wrote Doberski. I never found Daberski, or Dombrowski in my line. I never found Dobrowskis either.

The most likely theory at the moment is that my ancestors surname was 'Dąbrowski' and had been changed when they came to Eastern Germany to Dobbert. Simple as that, as for Doberski, my ancestors may have not been able to write perhaps and the people who were writing thought it was Doberski.

I also think this means i'm not Jewish, because Doberski was not the real name, and was only how whoever was writing it down, wrote it.

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]


Good to hear. (I found out how to quote!)

Also, I guess maybe there is a very small chance I could be Jewish but I don't think the Dąbrowskis were Jewish. Though I will look into it.