A reunion in an afterlife.

My endodontist’s surname is Stec. Which means he’s of Polish ancestry. I was curious. So I asked him. To be sure. I’m interested in names. In their origins. Stec could also be German. Particularly if one came from Westphalia. Stec was derived from the popular Germanic personal name Stecho. The name Stec also is derived from the Old Germanic word ‘steck.’ Which referred to a parcel of land. The steck was a tract of pasture land. Many cultural groups lived in German states in medieval times. Each had its own dialect and traditions, and unique variations of popular names. Low German, which is similar to contemporary Dutch, was spoken in Westphalia. German names, I’m told, are characterized by additions such as regional suffixes and phrases that tell something about the origin or background of its original bearer. Further contributing to the variation in German names was the fact that there were no spelling rules in medieval times. Scribes recorded names according to their sound. The recorded spelling variations of Stec include Steck, Stechel, Stecher, Steckler, Steckel, Steckell, Steckle, Stecker, Stechlen, Stek and many more. Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that Stec’s partner in his endodontics practice is a guy named Wachlarowicz. I’m assuming that’s of Polish origin. But I have yet to do my research. I’ll let you know. By the way, my name, Broede, was originally Brathi. The name of my paternal ancestors in Switzerland. In the 1600s. They migrated to Germany after the 30 Years War. And the pronunciation of ‘Brathi’ sounded like the German ‘Brode,’ with an umlaut over the o. And the umlaut ‘o’ was Americanized with an ‘oe.’ Thus, here I am. And I’m wondering if I’m related to some offbeat Neanderthal. Personally, I’d like to have a meeting with him in an afterlife. To determine if he even bothered with a surname. –Jim Broede