Russian or Lithuanian given name: Mooscha?

[kohlerkinfinder]

Moses Macht, aka Mooscha Rabinowitsch, was born in 1842 in Lithuania and lived in Moscow. He immigrated to Baltimore in 1891. In 1896 he returned to Russia, for a commercial fair. On his return to Baltimore, by way of Hamburg, Germany, he died in Hamburg. His Hamburg death certificate  http://goo.gl/gpqjrH lists his name as Mooscha  Rabinowitsch. Did the Germans get his given name right?
Thanks.
Bonnie

[Ruskie]

Who was the informant at is death? Family?

Was he known as Moses Macht when he lived in Baltimore?

[kohlerkinfinder]

Thanks for your interest.
I can't tell who the informant was because I can't read German. I suspect it might have been someone staying at the same hotel in Hamburg. Moses died following Yom Kippur, so he might have been in contact with other Jews around that time. I believe he was traveling alone.
Yes, he went by the name of Moses Macht in Baltimore.
On a 23 Oct 1891 trip to Baltimore with his family, the Hamburg departure index shows his name as Marscha Rabinowitsch. It's difficult to read the name on the left side the actual 23 Oct 1891 Fürst Bismarck departure list http://goo.gl/s1yKvX.

[Ruskie]

So taking the understandable variation in his name into consideration, what exactly are you trying to find out?

Mooscha/Marscha sounds very similar when you say it out loud. If the informant was an acquaintance he may not have been sure of his exact name, and would not have been asked to spell it, hence the differences I suspect.

Are you trying to confirm that this death in Hamburg is your ancestor Moses?

[kohlerkinfinder]

There is enough circumstantial evidence in the death record for me to believe "Mooscha" is my person of interest. He died at the right place, at the right time, and after visiting the business fair in Nizhny Novgorod.
I have just never heard the name Mooscha - not that I would have because I've seldom been exposed to Lithuanian/Russian names. The name just seems a little off to me. I'm going to put the name in a family genealogy, and I don't want a made-up name to appear in a report that will be kept for posterity.
Again, thank you for your interest.

[Ruskie]

You could do a work-around by stating the fact that his name was recorded in various ways. Yes, it will be recorded for posterity, but his death record, even though not as you spell the name, is also recorded for posterity.

[Chilternbirder]

The "cha" suffix on the name suggests to me that it might be a diminutive (as with Ludka / Ludmilla).

[kohlerkinfinder]

I appreciate your input, Peter.
I have asked someone to translate the German death record. I'm hoping there are clues to help with the name.

[Ruskie]

If you are convinced that the death certificate is that of your ancestor, I believe that the difference in the name is insignificant and not enough to worry about.

Information on d/cs is the least reliable, so you need to look for instances of his name which he himself provided. Marriage? Children's births? Travel and immigration documents...

Get advice and opinions from others, but I think you may be over thinking this variation in his name.

Well worth getting the d/c translated though.