Maybe
he was motivated in doing so on grounds of linguistic issues?
The
inserted “e” definitely had and still has the advantage that the
name can be pronounced in an easier or more fluid way. What maybe would have
been considered smoothing verbal bumpiness in former times, would nowadays
be called modernizing a language. Perhaps there was something similar to a
reform of speech at the time, maybe a movement that Gerd took part in. It
would be interesting to see if the domain of linguistics could answer this
question.
Was
it maybe a sign of a new self-confidence?
Did Gerd
want to distinguish himself as the head of a big family and in his privileged
profession as a worker on a horse breeding farm? Maybe he felt a need to do
so because being one of the younger brothers in his family he was not entitled
to inherit the Bornbusch farm himself one day.
Or did he just want to avoid mix-ups or mistakes?
This matter
is left to speculation as in following years the family name Bornbusch reappears
in church books and other documents again. This could be explained with the
formerly mentioned process of misunderstanding or spelling incorrectly though,
only that in this case it would be vice versa and a mumbled Bornebusch would
turn into a Bornbusch.
