How German Lutherans became Brazilians: A methodological essay

The article reviews earlier collaborative research about German immigrants to Brazil by using data from family genealogies (the reconstruction of family histories from parish register data). These data permit the preliminary testing of a methodology to establish indicators of the group's ethnic identity. There is need to understand the group's criteria for determining and receiving members and for making inclusion and exclusion apparent in the group. The choice of baptismal names is analyzed, and these choices are considered against the background of the changes the population underwent as it continued to adapt to new social and economic circumstances. The analysis needs to be more complex and continuous cultural uniformity cannot be assumed; each cohort of the population has to be better defined as a relatively distinct cultural unit.