The Kresha Name
Why is it spelled this way?
This is an issue since the original name was spelled several different ways on different documents, especially old Moravian church records. It has been been spelled Kressa, Kressy, Kresse, Krehsa, and Gressa, then finally, Kresha. It is pronounced with a long ē, {ćree-sha}
It should be stressed that spelling was not important prior to recent times. There were varying levels of literacy, varying opinions on how something should be spelled and often the spelling was more phonetic than using specific letters.
The spelling of the name of the four Kressa's arriving at Castle Gardens, NYC, is definitely "Kresha", but it was probably Kressa, as it was on their birth certificates. When asked what their name was, they answered, "Kressa" in the only language they knew, German. The catch is the double letter ‘ss’ is pronounced ‘sh’. Thus, Kressa would pronounce like 'Kresha' in English and it was this spelling that was written down in the immigration records at Castle Gardens in 1888. The 'e' in Kressa was probably pronounced like a "long a" or "aye" sound, leading to some of the alternate spellings encountered. In any case, it wasn't long, probably before 1900, that all family members spelled their name the same way as it is today, Kresha.
It is believed that this is why Kresha is spelled the way it is, to match the German pronunciation. It was routine for the officials to write down what they heard. This was also routinely done in Europe, where there were many languages in small areas. Mispronouncing or accents further complicated the task of those who had to write down names. It does make it difficult to trace family trees, especially since records were not required to be kept until about 1600.
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, not be used because it was frequently pronounced "Kray-sa" or 'crazy'. It might have had something to do with Theodore Kresha, III., who died in a ground-breaking asylum for alcoholics in Binghamton, NY. He was the first family member who came over by himself, didn't know English and probably became clinically depressed, missing family.
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 with a story about how they got the first name of Kresha. There is also a rapper in eastern Europe that has appropriated the name, MC Kresha. He has many videos and other web matter.
One family story indicates that a priest recommended that one alternate spelling, Krehsa, not be used because it was frequently pronounced "Kray-sa" or 'crazy'. It might have had something to do with Theodore Kresha, III., who died in a ground-breaking asylum for alcoholics in Binghamton, NY. He was the first family member who came over by himself, didn't know English and probably became clinically depressed, missing family.
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 with a story about how they got the first name of Kresha. There is also a rapper in eastern Europe that has appropriated the name, MC Kresha. He has many videos and other web matter.
