The Kresha Name:

Why is it spelled this way?

The Kresha name has also been spelled Kressa, Kressy, Kresse, and Gressa on different documents.

    The spelling of the name of the four Kressa's arriving at Bedloe's Island, (Liberty Island) is definite, but it was probably Kressa, as it was on birth certificates.  When asked what their name was, they probably answered, "Kressa" and it was this that was written down in the book.  The double letter ‘ss’ is pronounced ‘sh’ in Czech. Thus, Kressa would pronounce like Kresha in English.  It is believed that this is why Kresha is spelled the way it is, to match the English pronunciation. This was routinely done in Europe, where there were many languages in small areas.  It does make it difficult to trace family trees, especially since records were not required to be kept.

    Eventually, all of the new arrivals wound up using the ‘Kresha’ spelling. The 'Americanized' name was relatively easy to spell and pronounce... and was on the original paperwork.

    One family story indicates that a priest recommended that one alternate spelling, Krehsa, be changed because it was frequently pronounced "Kray-say" or 'crazy'.  It might have had something to do with Theodore Kresha, Jr.,  who spent time in an insane asylums.

    Kresha is now showing up on the internet as a FIRST name.  We have no information as to exactly where it came from, except to guess that it is a made up name (like ours) and relatively unique.  We would like to hear from anyone a story about how the got the first name Kresha.

The Kresha's have no family crest, per se.  Many Moravian sharecroppers used the flag of their town.  The Kreshas came from Nova Hradecna... perhaps this flag can serve the purpose:

Nova Hradecna town flag

I like it a lot because of the bright colors and the big heart.  I don't know what to make of the snake in the grass!