Bueker Central

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The Bueker name is pronounced more than one way. In Germany it is spelled Büker. Ü, u with umlauts – the dots on top, can also be spelled UE. Since English language typewriters lacked the ü character - it is always spelled Bueker in the US. In German, the UE sound is pronounced by rounding your lips for a U and pronouncing EE.

However, as is so often the case with immigrants to the US, the pronunciation of the name gets changed . English speakers have trouble with the German UE sound. So, Bueker is pronounced bEEker in my family. I have corresponded with other Bueker families who pronounce it bYOOker.

Let me know how your family pronounces it.

Just as the pronunciation varies, some Buekers have altered the spelling of the name by dropping the e from the ue e.g., www.buker.com. If you are a Buker, let me know how you pronounce it and when and where the spelling was changed.

This continues to be a mystery. While there are several Bueker clans in the US ultimately they all originated from Germany. And as near as I can determine in the Westphalia area. One Bueker from Germany remembers his father once telling him that word Bueker came from the word Boetcher meaning barrel maker. Another reports that it he heard it means guy-with-a-big-stomach! A Bueker from Norway, confirms the barrel maker hypothesis. Another German says that Bueker means baker as regional slang expression for "baking" used to be "büken" .

If anyone else has heard this or any other story (please!) about the name, please drop me a line.

There are approximately 140 Buekers, based on counting telephone numbers, in the US. Only about 10% are on-line. There are 501 Buekers listed in the Germany phonebook with the overwhelming majority in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe area . I'm very interested in whatever Bueker history and genealogy information may be available, especially in Germany. I have recently learned that there are at least 2 Buekers in Norway. If you have any information you would like to share please e-mail Rick Bueker.