The Zoda family that you typically find listed in Indiana originally spelled their name Zody. Some branches of the family started spelling their name Zoda instead of Zody in the late 1800's. This Zoda (Zody) family originally came from Germany. Heinrich Zote, also spelled Zode, eventually spelled Zody in the US, originally came from the village of Arfeld, Germany in the late 1700's. His wife Louisa (Marie Luise Althausen) came from the village of Richstein, Germany. They married in 1796 in Bremen, Germany, and came to America directly after on the ship Batavia.