Nierenberg... Jewish name?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

Reading up online it seems Nierenberg and Nirenberg are jewish names, but I found a record to a bavarian Nierenberg where he is listed as Protestant...

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Chris

[IrishGunner]

I don't think there are any "absolutes" when looking at names and their relationship to religious affiliation or ethnic group. While it may be true that "many" Nierenbergs were Jewish, what makes you think they all had to be Jewish? I know a family - Nierenberger (I know slight difference) who are Catholic. So, it makes sense some families with the name might be Protestant.

Or maybe he gave up his Jewish faith and adopted Protestant?

[dond]

Or his family was forced to convert back in the day.

[Dave Danner]

Nirenberg is more of a Jewish name. There are 600 hits on the name with that spelling in Yad Vashem's database of Shoah victims. But there are only 12 hits for Nierenberg. These appear to be mostly Galician and Hungarian Jews.

There are only two Nierenbergs (no Nirenbergs) in the Bavarian Army Kriegsstammrollen, both Protestant. They were also brothers.

Of the nine Nierenbergs (no Nirenbergs) in the WW1 casualty lists, five were from the same general area in what is now Sachsen-Anhalt. Two were from Zerbst in Anhalt, one from Gehrden, Kreis Jerichow I, which was just over the border from Zerbst, one from Aken, Kreis Calbe, which is just south of Zerbst and west of Dessau, and one from Pösigk, Kreis Bitterfeld, which was in a Prussian exclave located within Cöthen in Anhalt. Dessau today has five Nierenbergs in the telephone book. Anhalt had a tiny Jewish population (less than one half of one percent) and was over 95% Protestant, so the odds are these guys were Protestant as well.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Thanks,

I guess the Sachsen-Anhalt connection would be the most logical thing then, small chance for the 2 bavarians.

Best

Chris