Re: Americanized name for " Wenzl " . Help

Wenzel or Wenzl is a Germanized version of the Czech firstname Vaclav.Americans know Wenzl as Good King Wenceslaus from the Chistmas carol.Some immigrants altered it to Wendel.Vaclav (pronounced "V/Watslaw") was unknown to Americans as a firstname.It sounds a lot like Wesley, so some (presumably Protestant) immigrants named Vaclav adopted Wesley in its place.Others completely abandoned the original name and adopted the very American Charles or (most often) James, although there is no connection at all between Vaclav and either of these.There were so many original Vaclavs who went by James in America that some people assumed incorrectly that the names were somehow connected in the Old Country.But the Czech name corresponding to James is Jakub, and the Czech version of Charles is Karel.