Names connect relatives and can be research clues, especially when naming patterns are used. However, they can cause confusion with spelling variations, pronunciation, transcription errors, misattributed parentage, and other issues. Names can also lead to brick walls.

I’ve uncovered some intriguing names in my research, and the most recent is Otto. He’s currently the only person with that given name in my family tree, and he’s proving to be a brick wall.

Otto Kells is my half-great-uncle, a direct descendant of my Irish immigrant Kells family, but I know very little about him. In fact the first I knew of him was when I found his name mentioned in the 1923 will of my 2x great-grandfather, Robert Kells. At the time of the will Otto would have been almost 16 years old.

Otto was born in Sydney in December 1907 and his birth registration shows only a first name and surname, no middle name. He was brought up by his grandfather Robert as his son, and lived in the Shoalhaven region. Otto was alive in 1923, but I can’t find any record of him after that.

I’ve checked vital records indexes, cemeteries, and death notices. I’ve searched newspapers, electoral rolls, and wills. It’s possible he served in World War II so I’ve searched military records, to no avail.

Could he have moved overseas? Maybe, but I haven’t found him in immigration records, and the few Otto Kells I’ve found outside Australia of a similar age don’t seem to match.

I’ve also tried searching with different permutations of his surname including Kells spelled with and without the s, and with an a instead of an e. I’ve tried other variations of the surname as well, like Kallis. I’ve searched for just the given name Otto, and browsed lists of anyone with the surname Kells of a similar age. No one seems to match.

Otto is a name with Germanic origins, and it might have been a difficult one to have when Australia was at war with Germany, and even afterwards. Could Otto have changed his given name? What about his surname? Either is possible and would make finding him difficult.

I will continue searching for Otto, applying new research strategies, revisiting records, trying new search keywords, and investigating DNA matches. I hope that one day I discover what happened to him.

Do you know what happened to Otto? Are you related to him or his family? If so, please get in touch.

Selected references

Will of Robert Kells, died 4 October 1923, Probate Packets, NSW State Archives, NRS-13660-10-53-Series 4_122223.

Baxter, Carol, Help! Why Can’t I Find My Ancestor’s Surname?, Carol Baxter, 2015.