Gentzkow: The Name

For 35 years, I sought to discover Gentzkow family history. Because it is a very unusual name, it is simple to lookup. I used to say that every Gentzkow in any phone book was one of my cousins. With Internet searching, cousins were found in Germany. I called it the Gentzkow Journey.

Why are there multiple versions of the surname? Why do some families use ‘von’ Gentzkow?

Von Gentkow or just Gentzkow?

When I traveled to Germany, I met Jürgen Gentzcke, an avid researcher from Bad Doberan, near Rostock; we are tenth cousins (or so). He explained to me why his surname is not von Gentzkow.

Baltzer von Gentzkow (b abt 1493- d aft 1523) was Herr (Landholder or Lord) at Dewitz, Sadelkow and Golm. He had eight children. Two of the children were untitled (were not named with the ‘von’) because they were unebenbürtige – of unequal status. Their father was of noble rank, but their mother was not. Jürgen descends from one of those two unebenbürtige sons. Our American line descends from one of the ebenbürtige sons.

As American descendants of George Edward von Gentzkow (aka Julius August Emil von Gentzkow), are we entitled to the ‘von’?

So far, I have found only two American sources where George Edward’s name is listed with the ‘von.’ First, there is a biographical sketch included in an 1883 History of Winona County.¹Hill, H.H., History of Winona County Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. H(. H. Hill: Chicago, 1883. pp 739-740. The second place is on his tombstone (which has an incorrect date of birth). He did not use the ‘von’ when he immigrated, when he applied for citizenship, when he was enumerated on the census, or when he purchased/sold property.

Evergreen Cemetery, Minneiska, Wabasha County, Minnesota
His birthdate is incorrect. Here is his baptism record.

If we use the pattern established in Jürgen’s familial line, I do not believe that we are entitled to use the ‘von.’

Here’s why: The American immigrating ancestor Julius August Emil/George Edward von Gentzkow married a woman (Sophia Schultz) who was not of equal rank. Therefore the children of this union would not carry the ‘von’ as a hereditary title. None of their children used the name von Gentzkow.

But, hey, we do not live in a Duchy and you can change your name if you so desire.

Pronunciation

In Germany, Gentzkow is pronounced with a hard ‘g’ /GHENTS-koh/. Thus von Gentzkow sounds like /fon GHENTS-koh/. In my travels, I discovered that most branches of the American family say Gentzkow this way.

However, descendants of Edward “Ed” Franklin Gentzkow (1881-1948) pronounce Gentzkow with a soft ‘g’ sound: /JENTS-koh/. Ed used to say that the North Dakota farmers could not say his name properly and he grew tired of correcting them.²Blees, Karrie. Descendants of George Edward von Gentzkow of Minneiska, Minnesota : a history of the Gentzkow family in America. North St. Paul, Minn.: Sewing for the Harvest, 2000. page 6. In the case of the North Dakota Gentzkow clan, the surname came to be pronounced based on the English-speaking community’s interpretation of the spelling.

For Jürgen’s family, the difference in pronunciation is the final vowel-sound: Gentzcke = /GHENTS-keh/.

Spelling Changes

Jürgen Gentzcke is pictured opening the churchyard gate at Jatzke where we toured in the fall of 2019. He traces his family line and surname spelling thus:

• Baltzer von Gentzkow (b abt 1493 – d aft 1523)
• Caspar Jentzkow
• Alexander Jentzkouwin
• Carl Christian Gentzke (1624-1707)

By the 17th century, his family name changed from Gentzkow to Jentzkow/Jentzkowin to Gentzcke.

We must always keep in mind that surname spellings are very dependent upon the way that they are pronounced. Within ancient church record books, the scribe may have written the name they way that they heard it.

What about other spellings?

How about the town of Genzkow?

In German pronunciation, there is little difference between Gentzkow and Genzkow. The letter Z sounds like /ts/.

In Wisconsin, there is an extended family with the name Genskow. Dr. Roy Genskow (1926-2013) attended the Gentzkow 2000 reunion in Minnesota. Afterwards, he sent me a thick volume of his genealogy. He chronicled his quest to find connections in Europe and family further back in history. Roy traced his immigrating ancestor to Johann Carl Friederick Ferdinand Genskow (1827-1896); son of Caspar Friederich Genzkow (1780 – 1844) of Nowogard/Naugard

Are we related? Quite possibly.

More research is needed to find the connection of our two families.

SOURCES

• 1
  Hill, H.H., History of Winona County Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. H(. H. Hill: Chicago, 1883. pp 739-740.
• 2
  Blees, Karrie. Descendants of George Edward von Gentzkow of Minneiska, Minnesota : a history of the Gentzkow family in America. North St. Paul, Minn.: Sewing for the Harvest, 2000. page 6.