It is dinner time at the Kehler residence, and the conversation around the table is in full swing. Exciting news of the day is shared by all. At times it sounds more like a chicken barn, as it seems everyone is talking at the same time.
Suddenly the phone rings and the conversations come to a complete halt as the one who is nearest the phone answers promptly. Who can it be, the others sit in wonder?
“Hello, is Mr. Keller there?”
“Yes, just a minute….Dad, it’s for you…it’s someone who can’t pronounce our last name again…”
Those of us, who carry “Kehler” as our surname will understand this best. It’s usually a telemarketing company representative, who has been prompted by a computer script.
This led me to some deeper thoughts about the name we carry. Perhaps we have influenced the pronunciation of our name with our Mennonite German accents. Maybe we have pronounced it wrong all these years, and no one dared to correct us? Is the rest of mankind correct, and we are in the wrong? As such, I started to Google my way to some information about the Kehler name and the pronunciation thereof.
What I found proved my thoughts wrong, thankfully. PronounceNames.com has this to say about our name:
KEHLER is pronounced as k EH l er where,
k is pronounced as k in key
EH is pronounced as e in pet
l is pronounced as l in let
er is pronounced as er in hurt
This information furthered a smaller but valid curiosity of the origin and meaning of Kehler. If my findings are correct, Kehler is “German: habitational name from a place called Kehl, notably the town across the Rhine from Strasbourg.” I didn’t have to look any further, as my curiosity was fully appeased when I read Kehler is also,
German: from Middle High German kel(e)‘throat’, hence a nickname possible for someone with a goiter or perhaps with a distinctively throaty voice.
There in, behold, no one can dispute that every Kehler carries a distinctively throaty voice.
I pity the next telemarketer who interrupts our family dinner that asks to speak to Mr. Keller – perhaps it would be in their best interest to skip the Kehlers and carry on with contacting the Ketlers, Klassens or Koops.
Brad Kehler, a 3rd generation Berliner Kehler, resides in Mitchell, Manitoba — near the original Berliner Kehler Ebenfeld Homestead.
I always pronounce my name as Keller. Personal preference
Thanks for the info about our distinctive voice in the Kehler clan. . Too bad I don’t have one … It must be because I am so shy and a quiet personality. What’s a throaty voice? Is that having a built in loud speaker? Anyways, good job Brad on our Kehler name. When a telemarketer calls me I am always going to speak German and then the conversation will be short. Ha!
Joyce You are Henry Kehlers sister. Correct? Aunt to Harvey, Michael and Candace
Hey Rod. Just saw this as I was browsing. Where are u now? We are still in Red Deer. We pronounce our name Keller as well. People don’t know how to spell Kehler normally lol.
Gutentag,
Loved the blog! My Kehler family line is Austrian, from Vienna. So I wonder if maybe some of the Kehlers left Kehl and headed for Austria? To make things more interesting, I’m native as well. I’m Austrian-Metis. Quite a mix.