Variations of the Finger Name

Different Spellings found based on census and other records


FANGER

Sometime between 1880 and 1900 the spelling of Joseph Finger (1868-1960) became Fanger. One instance of Fangers has been seen. Joseph is the descendant of Peter Finger, (1724-1792) of the 'Southern' Finger family line.

FINGAR

This spelling is the most often seen variation. There was some sort of family feud in the mid 1850s, causing many to move to the other side of the Hudson river and change the spelling. According to one source, "family rumor has it that it was this very John B. Finger (b. 1811) who had a terrible falling out with his uncle Jeremiah (1788-1859) and henceforth changed his name to FingAr." While most pronounce the name the same as Finger, we have found some descendants who emphasize the a-r, pronouncing it Fing-GAR

FINGERS

The spelling of George E. Finger (1892-1958) seems to have changed to Fingers between the 1920 and 1930 census. George is a descendant of August Finger who was born in Germany in 1846. Rollie Fingers, of baseball fame, is among the descendants of this line.

FINZAR

Philip Delos Finger (1859-1937) changed his name to Finzar sometime between 1892 and 1894. Philip is a descendant of Johannes Vinger, (mentioned below). All descendants born after 1892 kept the spelling Finzar.

VINGER

Original spelling of Johannes Vinger who was born about 1700 and came to the U.S. in 1710. Vinger is the spelling of Finger in German, has the same meaning, and is pronounced the nearly the same. The spelling Finger starts to appear in the next generation, as early as 1727. The spelling Vinger continues to appear up through about 1741. In German the name is pronounced without the extra "G" sound. So it would be pronounced FING-ER, (rhymes with singer), rather than FING-GER.


Finger / Fingar Family Genealogy Website

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