brumbaugh

The foreign origin of Brumbach Families

The name is of German origin and is found both German and Swiss records with "u" and "o" frequently interchangeably. "Brum" is apparently a contraction of "Brummen," meaning noisy or roaring, something humming and "bach," a brook. The name in the first instance described an ancestor by locality, a common old method of designation. Owing to the general difficulty experienced by persons unfamiliar with German pronunciation, names ending in "bach" usually became "baugh" upon the landing of the immigrant, andin his deeds. Whether written with the more prevalent "u" or "o" it was pronounced with the long German "oo" as in moon, or more rarely with the short "u" sound in good. Whenever the German speaking ancestor executed deeds, and other legal papers, the English scribe in America usually wrote the name "Broombaugh," or "Brombaugh." An area once made in an important deed or other important paper, the ancestor sometimes simply made the small change in his name so as to conform to the erroneous writing of the name.

German origins - On emigrating from the place Brombach (earlier Branbach, etc.) to Basel and vicinity, the people took the name of the place from which they came, which subsequently clung to them as the family name. Native farmers of the name Brombach yet live near Beuggen, and persons of the name in Baden trace their ancestry to the vicinity of Basel, on both sides of the Rhine. Basilar Brombach and others at Basel came from Rheinfelden, Minseln, Nordschwaben and Karsan - all about two hours walking distance apart. Those families remaining at Minseln, Nodschwaben and Karsan remained Catholic in the Reformation period, while those at Rheinfelden became Protestants - under different governments. The inhabitants of Rheinfelden early left the Catholic religion, became Protestants, and later Altkatholiken (old Catholic, or reformers), which they remain. These inhabitants suffered greatly and were bitterly persecuted, causing most of the inhabitants to emigrate during the eighteenth century - the Brombachs-Brumbachs then emigrated.