Still more on names

Stupid Mennonite joke: What were the names of the three Mennonite farmers caught in a blizzard? Wiebe Friesen Fast (rim shot)

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While we’re on the subject of last names, what would you guess are the most common Mennonite last names? Further, where do you think Buller (and its variations) ranks on the list of Mennonite last names?

We’ll start with the second question. If you recall, the Grandma database includes 1,318,127 different individuals, 5,795 of whom are named Buller, Buhler, or the like. Stated differently, .4 percent of all Mennonites are named Buller. Less than one-half of one percent? That’s not very many.

Further, according to the website Chortitza (see here and scroll down), Buller is number 44 on the list of most common Mennonite surnames. We rank below Penner, Regier, Rempel, Funk, Wiebe, Peters, Thiessen, and Sawatsky but are more numerous than Ratzlaff, Pankratz, Block, Franz, and Siebert. (Be aware that the totals given on the website are dated, but the rankings are generally the same.)

Now back to the first question. By far the most common Mennonite names are Dyck/Dueck/Dick and Friesen/Riesen, both of which are approaching 40,000 individuals in the current Grandma database totals. In other words, almost 6 percent of all Mennonites in the database have one of those surnames.

Several final factoids before we leave this subject:

1. Another page on the Chortiza website (here) lists the most common Mennonite first, or given, names. For males, Johann leads all by a wide margin and is followed by Jacob and Peter.


2. The most common female names are Maria, Katarina, and Anna.


3. Grandma reports that cruel Mennonite parents named 816 sons Peter Peters, seven sons Jacob Jacobs, and one poor chap Franz Franz.