Talk:Slovenian Americans

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In view of the thorough scarcity of Slovenes here I have decided to add August Pust's name. He is, it seems to me, notable. --VKokielov 03:03, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Judith Arlene Resnik

Why are we listing Judith Arlene Resnik as possibly being of Slovenian origin? If it's just based on her name, the Dictionary of American Family Names should put that to rest:

Last Name: Resnik 1. Variant spelling of Jewish Reznik ‘ritual slaughterer’. 2. Slovenian: probably a topographic name from resa ‘heather’ (dialect res), or from resnik a type of barley.

We know she was Jewish, so we can be almost certain that the first explanation applies here. Unless there is some additional evidence available, I will remove her name from the list. WorldWide Update 12:47, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Since there were no objections, I replaced Resnik with Charles Kuralt, who said the following in his book A Life on the Road: "I come from wandering tribes, Norse and Celtic on my mother's side it seems, nomad Bavarians on my father's, ancestors become Scots-Irish and Slovenian by the time of their migration to America. As far as I could tell, none of them ever stayed anywhere for long."

Since his Slovenian origins are only partial and apparently distant, I think we should keep him under the heading "Important Americans with Slovenian origins," rather than in the "Important Slovenian Americans" section. WorldWide Update 11:00, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Importance

People should realize that this is a listing of important Slovenian Americans, not a directory of all Slovenian Americans (and certainly not a vanity list). For instance, we just had a case of a college student being added to the list without any indication of her broader significance. I'm about to remove Tom Susnik as well, because his description, as currently written, doesn't indicate what sets him apart from numerous other successful Slovenian American businesspeople. In other words, it doesn't say why he is "important" in this context. Did he invent something? Do his business skills stand out in any way? Did he receive any national awards for his skills or accomplishments? Is he an industry leader? (The description doesn't even mention what field he's in.) I'm sorry, but "millionaire" doesn't quite cut it in 2006. ;) WorldWide Update 11:08, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Doctors"

According to the Slovenian translation of this page, 738 Slovenian Americans aren't doctors (physicians), but have rather a doctorate (Ph.D). The inconsistency arose probably from the fact, that both are called doktorji in Slovenian.