The Seligman Family. I've traced my Seligman family back to 1730 in three towns in Belarus: Bobruisk, Parichi and Shchedrin. It includes folks who spell it Seligman, Zeligman, Zelikman, Saligman and even Selig as well as many other surnames. Write me if you think we may be related, and I'll be glad to share a 72-page tree with you!

Liebmans and Lovemans. My New Jersey Liebmans, among the earliest to emigrate, are part of a much larger family who Anglicized the name as Loveman and spread out across the U.S. They originated in Zemplén County, a part of Austria-Hungary that today is located in Slovakia.

The Abrahamowitzes. Like the Liebmans, the Abrahamowitzes arrived in the U.S. in the 1880s from what is now eastern Slovakia. All settled in the greater New York area. One branch of the family (mine) shortened the surname to Abrams; another chose to spell it Abrahams and a third adopted the name Ambrose.

The Sternreich Family. The Sternreichs originated in Galicia, now part of Poland. Few people bear this name today; virtually all are my relatives. A handful emigrated to the U.S. and a few live in Israel and the U.K., but most who remained in Europe died in the Holocaust.

Rudbarts and Milskys. My paternal grandmother was a Rudbart; virtually everyone who spells the name this way is related to me. Her sister maintained the original surname had been changed from Rudy. Her mother, who had seven siblings, was a Milsky before marriage. They all came from Porozow, a small Belarussian town now in Belarus that once was part of Poland. You can read about her life here, and learn the incredible story of how I located her relatives in Argentina here.