Talk:German immigration to Puerto Rico

Freddy Prinze Sr./Jr. and the "Pruetzel" surname
As I understand it, Prinze Sr.'s father was not a descendant of the German migration to Puerto Rico, but rather was a German immigrant to the United States who never lived in Puerto Rico, so therefore I don't think the example is valid for this article. -- Okupat 19:10 (UTC), 19 April 2006


 * I'll answer since I have written most of the Puerto Rican immigration articles. The section clearly states "Famous Puerto Ricans with German surnames".   Even if Prinze's father was not a "German-Puerto Rican". he still qualifies as a famous Puerto Rican with a "German" surname.  Oh by the way, thanks for clearing up the Catalan surnames in the French immigration to Puerto Rico article.  Tony the Marine 18:49, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Huh? German or Hungarian? Demf 15:11, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I thought he was Hungarian & puertorican? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.194.86.1 (talk) 19:38, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Ivonne Goderich and Angela Meyer
Ivonne Goderich is the daughter of a Cuban television producer, Ivan Goderich, who married Esther Sandoval. If the intention of the article is to depict her as a descendant of German immigrants to Puerto Rico, then the premise is wrong (unless, of course, the article stated "German immigrant to Puerto Rico by the way of Cuba" ;-) ). In fact Goderich might be from somewhere else (I dunno). However, as per Tony's take above, it might be left in the article. OTOH, Angela Meyer is a stage name for Angela Maurano, her real name. Her ancestry is actually Puerto Rican by the way of Colombia. I'll wait a day or so; if no one objects or does it first, I'll remove the Meyer reference. Demf 18:53, 2 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Read the answer posted above. I clearly stated "Famous Puerto Ricans with German surnames". So, that it would not be misunderstood that all of them were of German ancestry.  "Puerto Ricans with German surnames" is not the same as "Puerto Ricans of Germen ancestry".  Tony the Marine 20:04, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
 * 10-4, but does Angela Meyer stay? I don't think she deserves to be here... That would be the same as me changing my last name to, say, Schmidt. Agree? Demf 15:11, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Sandra Zaiter
She descends from Lebanese immigrants, not German... removed. Demf 15:14, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

French and German Immigration to Puerto Rico
Crcam, Thank you for your positive contributions to both of these articles which I wrote. After verifing the orgins of the names that you added to the "Common German surnames in Puerto Rico" section, I found out that you were right in some cases. Those surnames will remain in that section. However, the following surnames will be removed because they are not German surnames, these are the following.

"Baldrich"-English origin; "Christian"-Scottish origin; "Lage"-Dutch origin; "Michaelson"-English, Norwegian origin; "Thorsen"-Swedish origin and "Vans Derby"-Dutch origin.

You can use the following site to help you determine the origin of a name:

Take care and if I can be of any assistence in the future, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me in my talk page. Tony the Marine 21:23, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Hello there Tony! First of all thank you for ALL your ontributions regading these articles about Puerto Rico which are filled with so much research and insight. To someone like myself who grew up in the states they are invaluable. Although I agree with the website you have used, I just want to clarify that I received my information regarding these surnames as well as others from Estela Cifre de Loubriel's books rregarding immigration from various countries as my basis. For instance the origin of the surname Thorsen is indeed Swedish, the Thorsens of Puerto Rico did immigrate to island from Germany. I just wanted to share that info. I was also wondering how come an article has never been writen about Spanish immigration to the island. I would love to work on an article about that would you if you are interested. Again, thank you for all your work & keep it up!

Thank you, Crcam for your kind words in regard to the immigartion articles. I totally agree with you, there is a need for an article about the Spanish immigration to the island. Especially since the Spaniards that immigrated to Puerto Rico with the intention of making the island their homeland arrived from different regions of Spain, such as Mallorca, the Canary Islands and so on. In the past I have suggested the project to others, but no one has made an atempt. Right now I'm working on a project with which I will attempt to do justice to all those Hispanics who have contributed to the war effort during WW II and which filmmaker Ken Burns had omitted from his documentary "The War" which will be aired on PBS on September. As soon as I'm done then I will work on the Spanish immigration.

Ursula Acosta, who is the maxium auhtority in reagard to the German immigration to Puerto Rico has been in constent communication with me and has collaborated with my research in the surnames. The German immigrants surnames are those whose origin are from Germany, that is why the Thorsens of Puerto Rico, evne though they immigrated by way of Germany are not considered as Germen immigrants. They are Swedish immigrants who immigrated to PR from Germany.

Here is an interesting case. Peter Ortiz, who was born in New York City was a World War II Medal of Honor recipient. We all know that Ortiz is a common Hispanic surname and we would assume that Peter Ortiz was a Hispanic and maybe a Puerto Rican since he was born in New York. Yet, he is not Hispanic, his ancesters are French. France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal in some cases share a common border so it is common that the border towns of these nations share surnames of the origin of other nations. That is way I have made sure that the surnames in the immigration series are from there place of origin.

Gracias mi hermano. Don't forget to sign your comments with a " ~ " so that I will know who's writing. Tony the Marine 19:54, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Got it! Thank you for clarifying that. Now it makes sense. My mother is from Adjuntas and she remembers there being many Rickehoffs and Stubbes in that town which are descendants of Germany as well. It is intersting how we tend to think that there were only three 'lines' of ancestry on our island but that is untrue. And although I am very proud of my Spanish & Taino Indian blood I am very proud of my Danish & Irish past as well and of course the Corsican side which contributed so much to our blood, customs and economy. I have spent a couple of years working on my genealogical tree and it is just fascinating and for someone who grew up in the states it is so important to learn all this and then in turn share the info with future generations. I just can not wait to read and contribute to the article which you plan to write about our Spanish immigration. With so much documentation on that immigration (the Gallegos, Canarios, Catalanes, Mallorquines, etc.) and what they were able to leave behind while intermingling with the Tainos, Africans, Corsicans, Germans, Irish, etc. it will be simply a hoot! thanks again for the clarification. christian

Mennonite
Any thoughts on a short section regarding the Mennonites of Puerto Rico? Many were of German descent. Surv1v4l1st (Talk 21:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Good observation. I'll check it out this week. Tony the Marine (talk) 22:00, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the note. I believe Hospital Menonita was founded on the island by Mennonite missionaries. Surv1v4l1st (Talk 22:50, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Done! Tony the Marine (talk) 06:38, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Looks great. Thanks. Surv1v4l1st (Talk 13:27, 21 July 2009 (UTC)