Descendants of Johann Wendel George Traut (1689-1760) of Kleinfischling- en, Landau, Germany, who came to America in 1738. He was married (1) to Maria Appolonia Steinlin, with whom he had seven children born between 1723 and 1738. He settled in Strasburg Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where in 1739 he married his second wife, Maria Magdalena Walter (1717-1760). They had seven children born between 1739 and 1749. Descendants and family members live in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and elsewhere.

This dictionary identifies more than 13,000 German-Jewish surnames from the area that was pre-World War I Germany. From Baden-Wuerttemburg in the south to Schleswig-Holstein in the north. From Westfalen in the west to East Prussia in the east. In addition to providing the etymology and variants of each name, it identifies where in the region the name appeared, identifying the town and time period. More than 300 sources were used to compile the book. A chapter provides the Jewish population in many towns in the 19th century.

Ancestors include: Captain Edmond Scarborough (1584-1634) of North Walsham, England; and Virginia -- John Davis, a Revolutionary War soldier of Virginia; and his grandson, William Davis (1798-1870) of Georgia and Salem, Alabama -- Thomas Lockett (d. 1686) of England and Henrico County, Virginia.