http://www.archion.de/p/6804fec787/

Can anyone please help me with the surname in the bottom entry?

I am searching for Johann Valentin Rodenberger / Rothenberger born in this time period and in this area.

This is the only record I found that may be close. But the surname here does not look like Rodenberger or Rothenberger to me. Thank you.

Regards,

Ellen

Hello,
its NOT "Rodenberger", its maybe Steßiger or Neßiger.

Regards, Magnus

Many thanks!

Regards,

Ellen

Hi Ellen,
I'd read the surname as "Weßiger". At the end of the line and stretching into the next one the place he is from is mentioned, "zu ?al-
grund" if I read this correctly (not quite sure). I'm especially not sure how to read the first letter.
Not if the first letter is a botched form of an "h", then "halgrund" might possibly be an old form of today's "Hallgarten" which is near Obermoschel and in fact in the same church book?
But just a theory, I hope that somebody else can read the place name better.
Regards,
Jérôme

It`s Meßinger Huthmachern zu Alsentz

Trust me, this name existed there. By the way, it has nothing to do with Rothenberger or Rodenberger.
I found a Johann Friedrich Rodenberger who died in 1750 in Wolfstein (luth.), age 40, he was a miner (origin unknown) and could be relation. Miners weren`t particularly stationary. You have to check the mining sites in the (wider) region if Valentin Rothenberger by chance also was a miner.

Regards,
Rainer

Indeed today's Alsenz, congratulations, Rainer, I was completely on the wrong track there. As for the M, i had entertained that possibility, too, but thought comparing to the different "M" in Maria that it differed too much.
But you're correct, it is an M, I found the marriage record in Alsenz:
http://www.archion.de/p/1c0ea6d2d9/
But it seems that he was not born there, as the family is not present in the index at the end of the church book and the marriage record indicates that his father, if I read this correctly, a "Bürger und Waffenschmied zu" , but then I have difficulties making sense of the place name,
here a zoomed-in version, if somebody else might give it a try,
http://www.archion.de/p/922e590a4c/ ?
Regards,
Jérôme

For the record, I read the place name as "Kyön" which I can't find today. I can find a "Cölln" nearby, though, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B6lln_(Mannweiler-C%C3%B6lln) . Might this be an old spelling? Or did I, again, misread the place name completely?
Looking forward to what others have to say,
Jérôme

It`s Kyrn = Kirn/Nahe

I`m rather familiar with church books of that region so it`s easy for me to identify names as I already read a lot of them and Kyrn was a common spelling for Kirn.
Regards,
Rainer