Bubenik Family History & Genealogy

History

My information comes from my father, a family surnames expert from college and people in the Czech Republic. I am told this name is indeed Czech; Bohemian, in fact. Many people in Prague verified this. My research into the name showed several examples of it from the northern part of Bohemia. My great grandfather, who originated from Litomerice, a small town on the Elbe River close to current-day Germany in the Czech Republic, was named Karl Franz Bubenik, as was his son, who was my grandfather. This town's name is spelled very many different ways depending on what language you are speaking. Maps made in different countries spell it differently. I didn't find many people named, 'Bubenik' currently in the Czech Republic but I didn't do an exhaustive search. The name is quite common in and around the southern areas of Germany, both to the east and west in present-day Germany. My ancestors spoke German before coming the United States (1904) and I am told this area was heavily populated by people who identified with Germany. One older woman named Bubenik, whose ancestors were forced to leave Bohemia after WW II claims many of these people were forced out of their homes after WW II based on their ethnicity, since they were considered German by the Czech people and they wanted retribution. The great grandfather I spoke of above, emigrated to Deuben before 1868, then moved to Dresden some time inn the next 10 - 20 years.

Name Origin

My father said the name is translated to English as, 'Drummer' but not in the sense of a man playing a drum but rather one who travels to cities ahead of others in his company to, 'drum up' business of some kind. As a young man, I came across a cardboard cut-out figure you could assemble and perhaps set on a table that I bought for my father. It was called, 'Bubenik the Drummer' and it did depict a 19th century man playing a drum. It was about two feet tall and quiet well done buy a company who sold quite a few of these figures showing surnames and their meaning. I still, however, go with my father's description of a sort of salesman who travels ahead of others to drum up business of some kind.

Spellings & Pronunciations

In doing genealogy research, there seem to be many spellings of this name. Oddly though, I don't hardly ever see it spelled, 'Bubenick'. Some I've seen in eastern European are, 'Bubenyak', 'Bubnik' and many others that will come up on genealogy sites where you specify you want results with similar spellings and sounds.

My father, always the jokester, responded a certain way if people asked him how to spell it. He said, 'just like Buick, but with a 'Ben' in the middle. Predictably, this always served to confuse people further, if they weren't already confused when they first heard the name. Then they would spell it wrong if they put the, 'c' in it.

My family always pronounced the name, 'BU-ben-ick'. The first syllable here has the emphasis and is pronounced the same way as the, 'beau-' part of 'beautiful'. Surprisingly, a visitor to my office some years ago who was born in the Czech Republic says it is to be pronounced, 'boo-BEN-yick' and told me I was saying it wrong, in the opinion of a real Czech citizen. Interesting, huh?

Nationality & Ethnicity

As above, I am told it is from northern Bohemia and is fairly rare.

Famous People named Bubenik

There is a famous painter in Berlin named, Gernot Bubenik, born in 1942 in the Czech republic. There is also a professor in Australia and quite a few people in the US who have doctorates in a wide variety of fields. A journalist in Texas is named Travis Bubenik. There are some authors, scientists, decorators and one in the theater too. Wolfgang Bubenik is a soccer player for the LASK Linz, Austrian team.

Early Bubeniks

These are the earliest records we have of the Bubenik family.