Old German first name Zeyr

Question

Just came across the first name "Zeyr" in a 17th century death record from Winnenden, Wuerttemberg. I have never seen this before, nor do I have any clue what it might be short for.

The name shows up multiple times in early 1600s records from Winnenden, including five times for two different individuals on the linked picture, so I am pretty sure I am reading this right.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4dfyajkkxtsoccn3w07vi/Zeyr.jpg?rlkey=ou87b8lhaan5axjxeizdglc4c&dl=0

There is wider issue, since I have seen many similar questions here: Is there an online resource where one could look up the/an "official" name for short forms such as this?

Answer 1

Zeyr could be a short form of Cyriakus - I have seen this in several genealogy records in the region around Stuttgart, but could not find a source for this.

Best regards

Bettina

Comments

I have not seen "Cyriakos" in my searches around Stuttgart, and to my knowledge, it is actually "Kyriakos" with a 'K' sound. It's hard to see how that could mutate into "Zeir". But I did think of "Zacharias". Is that a possibility?

Answer 2

Have you tried finding a birth record through Familysearch? For me it helped a lot

Answer 3

Hi, when I look at the Familysearch Index for that place, I wonder if this is not a misspelled or misread "Zehr".  

https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=100&q.filmNumber=101902062&q.isPrincipal=true&q.surname=ze%2Ar

Comments

Oh, you looking at first name, not last name. Can it be for Ser for Seraph (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph ) I have seen that name already several time.