After I published my recent post about my Aunt Margaret (Habben) Hutchison's marriage in 1947 I realized that I didn't comment on her name. It's listed as Anna Margaret Habben on the marriage entry and that name is technically correct. I referred to her as Aunt Margaret throughout the post.
Because we never called her Aunt Anna. I never knew that Anna was her first name until I began doing genealogical research.
Anna Margaret (Habben) Hutchison had a sister named Anna. A biological full sister with the same first name.
Well sorta the same first name.
Anna Margaret (Habben) Hutchison did have a sister Anna (Habben) Tout. The problem is that Anna (Habben) Tout's first name wasn't really Anna. It was Anke.
The sisters (along with my grandmother Dorothy (Habben) Ufkes) were daughters of Mimka and Tjode (Goldenstein) Habben of Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois. Mimka's mother was named Anke and Tjode's mother was named Anna Margaret. That's where the sisters got their names--from their grandmothers. In Platt (the low-German dialect the Habbens spoke at home) the names were different.
The problem was that eventually Anke (born in the early 20th century along with her sister) began using the anglicized version of her name--Anna. Because of that, Anna Margaret started using Margaret, although she retained Anna Margaret as her legal name.
Their grandfather John also had a full brother named John.
We do these things just to confuse people.
