farmdoc's blog post number 162

Ulm is a city of 120,000 people, in southern Germany, on the River Danube. Founded around 850, it has a university (the University of Ulm, founded in 1967), and it’s mainly known for the tallest church in the world (the gothic Ulm Minster) and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein. Ulm is almost certainly where my surname came from. In medieval times no-one had surnames, and when the authorities began to require surnames – for identification purposes – many people used their city as their surname (Ulmer mann to Ulmann to Ulman). This surname thing came to my attention last week – after I’d created a Google Alert for ‘Vivienne Ulman’, I received this link. I don’t know how many of the 1,358 Ulmans in America are my relatives, but clearly I’m more likely to be related to them than to someone named Smith or Jones. And it intrigues me that 0.59% of the 1,358 (i.e. eight Ulmans) are Asians/Pacific Islanders. Would Australia be classified as a Pacific Island? I suppose our lineage is of some interest to each of us. Given my obsessive personality I’m surprised I haven’t attempted to trace my lineage at all let alone back to Ulm. And I doubt I’ll ever try. But you never know. One thing I’ve learned in my 61 Ulman years, is to never say never.