BS: What's in your name?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 03:55 AM

If anyone is really interested in the origins of their surname, I have a dictionary of surnames and quite a lot of knowledge on the development and origins of English surnames. I do a look-up service on the net for family historians. If you want to ask me about yours I'm happy to look it up, tell you about surnames or make an educated guess...! I find the whole subject fascinating

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,jennie
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 03:10 AM

whats in the name jennie

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,jennie
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 03:08 AM

whats in the name jennie

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Mudlark
Date: 18 Jul 04 - 01:33 AM

I finally decided to look mine up: Nancy = Full of Grace (true, true) and maiden name, Caton = full of knowledge, wise (also true, all true!) Isn't that amazing??? (How many of these name definitions mean dullard, venal, gross, etc. I wonder...none, I bet!)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Jul 04 - 01:12 AM

The Fooles Troupe Characters names... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 01:07 AM

Prettygirl:

I would suggest you ask someone skilled in Chinese etymology. I don't have any idea.


A

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,Guealeg
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 12:58 AM

Campbell - Cambell etc

The old Gaelic is; 'caombh', 'beal' or '
beul' etc. It meANT Orator or Clever or Schooled - person with the implication that the skill is oral, since the word 'beal' etc., means mouth as opposed to 'lambh'-for example- which would have indicated an arisan or laborer etc.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,Blackcatter
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:08 PM

Way up the list Ellenpolly said: And then there are the names that got changed at Ellis Island.

This is actually a myth. The immigration people at Ellis were some of the most skilled individuals when it came to foreign names, after all the saw hundreds of them every day. If you look at the Ellis records, nearly all immigrants were marked down with their names completely intact. This is because the immigration records were compiled using the ship manifests.

What happened is that many of the new immigrants changed their own names to fit in and find work. Since this wasn't the proudest day for these "yearning to breathe free-ers" the myth arose.

Subject: What does my surname mean???
From: GUEST,prettygurl =)
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 07:08 PM

What does my surname mean??? My surname is YU. Thnx!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,prettygirl =)
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 06:52 PM

Well, do u all know what my surname means????? My surname is YU
Thnx!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 10:29 PM

My name, it means nothin',
My age it means less...

Art

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Metchosin
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 06:34 PM

my name it doesn't matter.....but a poor, pudgy William Shatner has finally taken his name to heart and is now appearing in commercials for stuff to aid bowel movements. Oh dear! how the mighty have fallen.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 12:54 AM

Nothing's in my name.

I put it all in Carol's name !

Art

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,Toby Tostoff
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 03:31 AM

juan and Ben, my name's no great shakes...

I think it means "ruined pole"....

T.T.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 02:30 AM

Lady P you would have been called Pincher in the RN after an Admiral in the 1800's who was renowned for issuing a great number of punishments. Known as 'pinching'

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: LadyJean
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 12:35 AM

I'm not sure what Martin means, but it can be from ANYWHERE, Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia. I didn't know where my father's family came from until a cousin came out of the woodwork and said they were Irish.
I worked with a German Martin on the 2000 Census. We did not have the same way of looking at things.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 04:35 AM

My surname is of Norman French origin, but also dates back to the Viking invaders who took over Normandy.


In the RN we also assigned nicknames to certain surnames;

Miller; Dusty or Windy
Smith; Smudge
Adams; Fanny or Daisy
Marsh; Swampy
Allan; Derby
Bacon; Streaky
Baker; Bagsy
Bell; Dinger
Fields; Gracey
Todd; Sweeny
Parker; Nosey
Gale; Windy
Gray;Dolly

Not all surnames had a nickname and some nicknames were pretty horrible as they referred inevitably to physical or persoanl characteristics.

We had a messman in the Chiefs & PO"s mess on Conqueror who was only known as Wingnut due to the unfortunate size of his ears.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,Shlio
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 05:03 PM

I've no idea what the name Ashlie means - I've always assumed my parents wanted to name me in a hurry, so arranged a spelling that meant they wouldn't have to wait for the boy/girl question to be answered. (trad. boy spelling - Ashley, trad. girl spelling - Ashleigh. As a girl, I like my spelling better!)
As for my surname...I'm hoping that one of my ancestors was very tall and just got the name "Large" hung on him...in a manner of speaking. Does anyone have a better suggestion?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Cluin
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 03:38 PM

From a couple of sources:

Deevey
Well known, on account of the famous Fenian John Devoy (1842-1928); the O'Devoys (the anglicized version) or O'Deevys were one of the Seven Septs of Leix, the chief men of which were transplanted to Co. Kerry in 1607. The name has always been associated with Leix and adjoining midland counties. The Gaelic form of the name is Ó Duibh which became the well known Leix name Deevy or Devoy. This is supported by an entry in the Annals of the Four Masters (1071) where the lord of Creamhthainn (i.e. Maryborough) is called Ó Duibh:

"Under Dun Mase of smooth land,
O'Duibh (O'Deevy) is over Cinel Criomthainn,
Lord of the territory which is under fruit,
Land of smoothest mast fruit."

Seven Septs of Laois
After the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the Leix (Laois) County was divided among seven Septs or Clans: O'Moore, O'Kelly, O'Deevy, O'Doran, O'Lalor, O'Dowling and McEvoy.
This confederation began after the 3rd century CE, when the family group that would become the O'Mores came from Ulster to Leinster under the leadership of Laoighseach Cean More, son of Connall Cearnach of the Red Branch, and helped to defend Leinster under the kingship of Cuchorb, and expelled the Munster forces from the region. They continued to hold principality over what became Leix (Laois), so named after Laoighseach, and this confederation continued through the Elizabethian wars of the 1500's, when the military and political power of the families were broken and the clans dispossessed and relocated...


It was the incident at Mullaghmast in 1577 that really broke the power of the Seven Septs when most of the leaders were massacred by ambush at what was supposed to be a peaceful meeting. But the attackers were unsuccessful in their main objective, since Rory Og O'More, the then-leader of the Seven Septs wasn't there and he rallied many more to his cause afterwards with the battle-cry "Remember Mullaghmast!" They practiced a pretty brutal form of guerilla warfare on the transplanted English and their Irish allies from the massacre for years (in point of fact, Rory Og had been doing this before the massacre and that was the main cause of it in the first place), until O'More was betrayed, escaped with much loss including his family, and later died in an unsuccessful rally. The pinnacle of revenge for Mullaghmast was probably achieved with the events inspiring the song Follow Me Up to Carlow, though Rory Og didn't live to see it.


Anyway, big fuzzy deal... except to say that that's why, though I heartily dislike jingoistic rebel songs and refuse to do them, I still perform "Follow Me Up to Carlow" regularly. Besides, it can really kick ass the way we do it.   ;)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: CarolC
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 12:47 PM

Interesting sites, Bill. Thanks for posting them. I can't find my mother's maiden name, Degnan, anywhere. Her father's parents came to the US from Ireland, so I thought I would find it. It's probably a variation of Deignan, which is in there:

An important Leitrim-Roscommon family who moved to Cavan, Longford and Westmeath and where the name is often spelt Dignam

My 'maiden' name, Cunningham is a place related name:

(origin: Local) A district in Ayrshire, Scotland. The name signifies the dwelling of the chief or king, from the Saxon, cyning, Dutch, koning, a leader or chief, and ham, a house or town.

My current last name, Dale, was addressed above, but I like this meaning in the site you posted:

...a bushy vale; low ground, with ground ascending around it.

So I'm a descendent of the Leitrim-Roscommon family in a dwelling of a chief or king, nestled in a vale of low ground with ground ascending around me ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 09:51 AM

Didn't have any of my Hugenot ancestors names on it!

Ella

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Gurney
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 03:35 AM

Roger, according to an appendix in my dictionary, is from the German, and means 'strong counsel.' Gregory is from Greek, 'watchful.' Stephen is from Greek, 'a crown or garland.'
Told you it got boring.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 01:13 AM

heloo, my real name is jOhn, it means curry ship delivery bloke.john

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: rock chick
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 06:33 PM

No idea, never looked into it although it could be intresting, maiden name Hobbs, any ideas anyone ??? or even Shelagh, again no idea?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: JennieG
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 06:10 PM

I did Jenny, and to Genevieve too, which always sounds saintly and French to me!
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: hobbitwoman
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 03:49 PM

Thank you, Bill D., for the link to the Irish Identity page and an entertaining afternoon's reading. I now know that my maiden name, Browne, is derived from le Brun, which I already knew, and that the le Bruns came to Ireland during the Norman invasion, which I also knew, but the more places I read it the more I believe it. I didn't know the Bolands (my maternal grandfather's mother's folk) were of Norse descent... now I don't know if this is Norse as in from Scandanavia or Norse as in Scandanavians who settled in Normandy and then came to Ireland during the... oh, never mind. My mother's maiden name was Gilmartin and her mother was MacGuinness... Americanized to McGinnis...I don't know if that means descended from Guiness but according to my son's t-shirt, that would make us descendants of geniuses as Guiness is supposedly Gaelic for genius. ;o) Which I may be spelling wrong. No, that's right - I just checked.

I was also surprised to find my current surname on the site, b/c I thought it was English or German, and when the woman at the Celtic Festival sold my son a 'coat of arms' and told him that was the "Irish" spelling of the name, I asked if she'd tried to sell him a bridge in Brooklyn while she was at it.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 03:51 AM

My surname comes from a village in Cheshire from which my g-g-pa migrated to the City of a Thousand Trades seeking employment. It is anglo-saxon in origin and means "The field where the shrike nests". The shrike being the "butcher bird" of course.
I seem to remember "Roger" means "valiant spear" or summat, inappropriate for a pacifist!

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 03:50 AM

I'm still no wiser about Shatner... round here shat is the past tense of sh1t! Thus the mind boggles!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: JennyO
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 01:58 AM

And a good thing too, Jennie G. I would not answer to Jennie, and seldom to Jennifer. Jenny or Jen will do just fine. There's only room in this town for the two of us :-)

BTW, did you know that our name is related to Guinevere and Sinead too?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: JennieG
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 01:22 AM

First name Jennifer - "white wave" or some such waffle
Middle name "Grace" - geez I'm amazing - named after my mother's cousin
Maiden name Eldridge - don't know where that came from - my paternal grandfather emigrated from England during WWI and brought the name with him
Married name Richards
I will answer to Jennifer or Jennie - never Jenny and most definitely not Jen!
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: flattop
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 12:27 AM

Well Little Hawk had another nickname in school that refered to a different species of bird aand rhymed with Little Hawk. Desiring a bigger and bolder bird, like the American Eagle, he put a name between his legs that would soar.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: JennyO
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 11:32 PM

I have a book by Alexander Kent - "The Flag Captain", with Captain Bolitho as the main character. It wasn't the usual sort of book for me to read, but I found I couldn't put it down. It always stuck in my mind as one of my favourites.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 08:08 PM

Yes Bolitho is a common Cornish name. Must have been a lot of big bellies there. As far as I know there are no "little bellies".
I sang at a Cornish festival here in Australia a few weeks back to an audience of about 100 or so people of Cornish descent. In introducing a song I said, "hands up who hasn't got a Walter Bolitho somewhere on their family tree?" and 5 people put up their hands. We're all cousins of some sort. Joy

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: akenaton
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 07:33 PM

Thats right Kendall Capt Bolitho.
Alexander Kents yarns are very addictive ,the battle scenes are brilliantly written,you can smell the sea,blood and black powder.
I have a Cornish friend who says Bolitho is a common Cornish name
Besr wishes to you ...Ake

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: kendall
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 07:25 PM

Didn't Alexander Kent have a character by the name of Bolitho? He wrote sea stories ala C.S. Forrester

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 05:32 PM

My grandmother's family name was Bolitho = Cornish for "big belly". I had another ancestor with the name Fulton which comes from "Fowl Town" or simply a place where chickens are kept. She came from Peckham which is to be expected. Joy whose-given-name-has-no-hidden-meaning.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 05:18 PM

here is part of my family tree on my father's side.

Great-grandfather Tarsus, grandfather William, father Audley Wayne....and then the Farrabee branch goes way back


If anyone has done the research, it is possible that your family may be represented here.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Megan L
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 02:59 PM

Don there are still Firths in Orkney. take pity my surname can best be described as -thick as a brick, heavy weight clown - barclay-laughton

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Allan C.
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 02:46 PM

In the early struggles immigrants to North America often needed to disguise their identities to avoid pesecution by various factions. Sometimes simple name changes were not enough. Some names were altered by way of code. Kendall's surname is an example of this.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Peace
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 02:19 PM

KEN DALL

BARBIE DALL

Work with us will ya?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: kendall
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 02:05 PM

Hell, I don't know!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Les from Hull
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 09:43 AM

Ward - means guard, or somebody who looks after something.

My mum's name's Irish for Welsh - so there!

My grandmother's name was Windsor, but not the German branch of the family!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: greg stephens
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 09:10 AM

Thnks. Strick. i never knew that, or if I did I've forgotten. "Crown, wreth or garland" sounds fine. Spring is in the air today, i will go and plait a few daffodils and celandines together and stick them on my head.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Strick
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 09:06 AM

Since my first name is Steven, I know that Stephen and the other variations are Hebrew for "crown, wreath, or garland". The dictionalry of names says the added "s" implies a son of Stephen or a shortening of Stephenson.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: greg stephens
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 07:26 AM

My name(Stephens) seems to be so old it's just a name, nobody can remember what it means.It is an incredibly common in Cornwall(the land of my fathers. And indeed mothers). There is a rugby team in St Ives consisting entirely of people called Stephens.
   I believe Gregory means "watcher" or "sentry" or somethng in some old language or other.
Bill D(ay): you Americans so love all that Celtic stuff. Where I come from, Day is just that sort of period of time from the first cup of tea till the first pint of bitter.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Amergin
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 05:47 AM

My name has an N an I and a T in it....

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 05:41 AM

And then there are the names that got changed at Ellis Island...My mother's maiden name was Drobney, which was changed to Spiegel..(I figure there was a Spiegel catalogue lying around somewhere at the time). Her gloriously lovely first name of Manya to Miriam, and her mother went from Lena to Leah.The brothers went from Yussel, Yonkel, Welvil, and Ziskint, to Jack, Bill, Al, and Joe. Talk about something being lost in the translation!!..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 04:49 AM

Thank you Bill and Wulfie......I think I will continue to research the topic!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Gurney
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 02:54 AM

Christopher = Christ carrier. Biblical, after a ford-porter who carried Jesus.
Marden. = Corruption of Maderer, a gatherer of plants for the dyeing industry.
Most English peasants never had surnames until it became difficult to differentiate between the locals with the same first names. The, "James-on-the-Hill" became James Hill. William-of-the-sheepfell-bottom became Bill Shufflebottom. Thomas-the-carpenter is an example of a trade related name, Crookshank and Armstrong of physical characteristics.
It used to be possible to get large books which listed the majority of English surnames. It was also easy to bore your pals by telling them what their ancestors did or where they lived....

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Allan C.
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 12:54 AM

My surname is Clark, which ...aw hell, it is so common and simple, you work it out!

Most of the resources that list my first name show "dim" next to it. But my folks always told me Allan meant "little rock" or "handsome". Take your pick.

My middle name is Cecil, the first part of which, by the way, rhymes with SEA. I think any other pronunciation is at least abberant and probably just plain wrong. The name is vaguely associated with the number, six. It was once common to name a sixth child Cecil. I received it from my father, (not a sixth child,) who had it as a first name. He was told that his mother was a fan of the classics and gave her children names of literary characters. I have not yet discovered a probable source. (His sisters were Agnes and Venetia [pronounced, vin-ET-ta, for some reason].)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Blackcatter
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 12:53 AM

I'm Thomas Edward Cook

That's about all one needs to say. Just about the most English name around.

My paternal grandmom's maiden name was Schitz. Kinda glad she passed away (at age 78) before I was born. "Hey grandma Schitz!"

My maternal grandmom's maiden name was Lye - it was originally Lee, but the family was from the North and changed the spelling during the Civil War.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 12:25 AM

Or as the McDonalds say " never trust a Campbell " [ after Glencoe ]
eric

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Amergin
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 09:57 PM

Alaska Mike...I have always read that Campbell came from a phrase meaning "Crooked Mouth"

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ranger1
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 09:30 PM

I used to get junk mail from some place trying to sell me a family tree. They always used to include a small sample intended to pique the interest of their target. My last name is Bill (please, no more Mr. Bill jokes!), so they'd include something about so-and-so Bill came from such-and-such town in England and emigrated to Philadelphia, PA in 18something. I got the last laugh-- my last name used to be something longer in French and was changed by my Quebecois great-great-grandfather when he skipped across the border to New Hampshire in order to evade the long arm of the law in Canada. Needless to say, I didn't invest in their product.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Peace
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 09:09 PM

Thomas--the beloved of the opposite sex
Bruce--who will be devastatingly attractive to women (I like cats)
Murdoch--and who will never tell a lie

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:45 PM

my father always thought our last name was a variation on shortlegs
because everyone in the family had short legs 'kratoska' krat similar to latin=crutus or english curt. so he traced the ancestry back to 1585 (took several years to do this) and found that an ancestor bought a farm and took on the name of the people that live on the land. so our name actually was something else (like digger or miner)
which he didnt like at all.

oddly enough the family eventually lost the land about 1850 but when my dad visited the farm and talked to the lady who lived there they had an interesting chat - and when he left he thanked her, and she said 'oh but my name is not Kratoska, thats what they call me because we live here.' our name is something else.

first name =rock

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:27 PM

This is a message with three parts:

Oesterreich The German word for Austria, which is built from "oester" (eastern) and "reich" (more or less realm).

David is my first name, which means "beloved" in Hebrew, I'm told.

Roy, my middle name, is of course a king.

So I'm "The beloved king of Austria!"

Dave Oesterreich

My middle name is Roy

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Jeri
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:25 PM

I'm a Corlew. Certain people try to call me 'Curlew' and I'm not related to the bird. All of this is speculation, but it's believed (by a guy who actually wrote a book on the family's history in the US and did a lot of research) that before Corlew, it was Corlieu. This is OK - that's how they pronounced my name when I sent an e-mail during Rick Fielding's netcast CD release. I could possibly pass for a French Canadian, except I don't look anything like one.

Before Corlieu, it was Corrslieve...s'cuse me. It was something in Gaelic. (For anyone who has wondered, my murdering of Gaelic spelling isn't meant as a criticism of the language but an invitation to laugh at my complete ignorance). It came from 'Cor' (it means a place, doesn't it?) and 'Llud' (who was a Celtic god - feel free to enlighten me).   

I had an aunt who insisted our first ancestors came to the US from Ireland. Various people on both sides of my family have traced our geneology back to, in a very few cases, as early as the 1400s. I have pale skin, freckles and reddish hair. You'd think, wouldn't you? No one has found evidence that even ONE ancestor came from Ireland. The guy that wrote the book theorized that we started out in Switzerland with the Helvitii, so I can at least feel like I'm a Celtic type.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Nemesis
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:15 PM

"What's in your name?" Consonants and vowels .. ??

I have French Hugenot ancestors too ..and surname was my Great Grandmother's maiden name (changed by German grandfather from Hahn = "hen" in German).

Challis apparently from L'Escalier range of mountains (shaped like a staircase) in Pas de Calais in northern France. First noted in London/ Essex in 16th century apparently.

Then married a Cook - pronounced "Nkhuku" when I lived in Africa as a pun on the local African language word for chicken.
Cluck!
'Scuse me while I go lay an egg or something :)
Nem

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 06:35 PM

Raedwulf, thanks!!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Benjamin
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 05:32 PM

Well, the first site that Bill gave us a link for doesn't seem to think that there are enough Wilson's in this world to justify an inclusion to there list. But who needs Sur-Name elitists anyways? The second site says this -
Wilson
Found mainly in Ulster it is the most common English surname in Ireland.
So I'm an English man from Ireland in America. Thanks Bill, that cleared a lot of things up!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 04:11 PM

Rap - You're obviously a Michael then...

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 04:10 PM

Alternatively, Khatt, you might prefer this...

"Where does pedigree come from?

It came to English in the late 14th to early 15th century and is first recorded in 1410, when it was written pedicru. It has been traced to Norman French pied de grue "crane's foot". What on earth does a crane's foot have to do with genealogy? Well, descendants in a pedigree are indicated with something like this /|\, branching out from the names of their parents. That mark does somewhat resemble the foot of a crane. Pied comes from Latin pes "foot", and grue from Latin grus "crane". The suggestion that pedigree derives from Norman French par degrés "by degrees" (which is how names in a pedigree are listed) is superficially plausible but it lacks any supporting evidence.

Speaking of cranes, the Indo-European root from which grus comes is ger¿- (where ¿ represents schwa), which means "crane" and also "to cry hoarsely". It is from the "hoarse" meaning that English crow derives.

One of the old variant spellings of pedigree is pettigrew but the British surname Pettigrew (first recorded in the 13th century) does not appear to be related. None of the Pettigrews we consulted knew exactly where the name originated, but the most popular guess seemed to be a French placename."

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 03:59 PM

My maiden name was Smith, which I've always assumed means "worker," as in blacksmith, goldsmith, silversmith, etc. Workers were sure common, weren't they?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 03:53 PM

catsPHiddle... found this page which says:

Pettigrew
A Huguenot family that settled in Co. Tyrone in the 1600s. Derived from the French petit cru which means small growth

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 03:30 PM

Can't find a meaning for my surname .....Pettigrew....but it is rather common in Ireland. My first name means Pure Maiden....go on Liz say it.........!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 03:15 PM

Well, LtS, my first name translates as "Who is like God". Somehow I find that to be entirely appropriate....

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 03:14 PM

My Last name is LaWall, with the accent on the second syllable. Many years ago it was French "LaValle" meaning "from the valley". My ancestors were Huguenots (French Protestants) at a time when being a Protestant in Catholic France could have unpleasant consequences like prison sentences and beheadings. So, they packed up and moved to Germany. They changed the spelling to "Lawall" to accommodate the difference between French and German pronunciations of the letter "v". They also dropped the final "e" which was silent in French but would be pronounced in German.

But, when my formerly French/now German ancestors moved to Pennsylvania in the US, they didn't change the "w" back to a "v" so that Americans would pronounce it correctly and it wound up with the English "w" sound. Many of my relatives (and it's such an uncommon name that I assume anyone with the name is at least a distant cousin) have chosen to capitalize the "W" as a pronunciation aid.

Coincidentally, the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where I grew up, was originally established by another French Huguenot, the explorer Jean Ribault. In fact, the school I attended was named after him. And, in the historical district of the city of Pensacola, Florida there is a "LaValle House", built in the 19th century and maintained as a historical building by the city.

Bruce

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 02:59 PM

Thank you greatly for that Raedwulf; It explains a lot as in:- he's grass, his father's grass; his father's father was grass as was his father before him. Infact a load of old sods!    'Nuff said!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 01:53 PM

Eric - I looked that one up years ago. An Egger, apparently, is a ploughman. So Mr Governer is Arnold the Black Ploughman...

ced2 - Blair apparently derives from the Gaelic for "plain" (as in grassland, not speaking!). Oh, and Richard Head is a highly respected maker of longbows (but I can't help feeling that his parents must have hated him on sight!).

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Don Firth
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 01:27 PM

Pentland Firth, Solway Firth, Firth of Forth, etc. Place name. My great-grandfather came from Orkney.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 01:25 PM

Hudson - yep, from a surname which meant "son of Hudd". However, Hudd is a medieval pet form of HUGH or RICHARD. Hugh from Germanic hug, meaning "heart, mind, or spirit". Richard means "brave power", derived from the Germanic elements ric "power, rule" and hard "brave, hardy". Take your pick. Either way, Henry was probably too busy exploring geography to worry about etymology! ;)

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 01:17 PM

My last name is Campbell, I was told it meant "beautiful field". Any Scots name knowers out there?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 01:09 PM

I made a bet with myself that there would be web sites dedicated to this...I won..first hit!

here's mine You can do a search on yours, too.

DAY The Celtic and Gaelic word deag or dagh signifies good, excellent, the same as Da, in Welsh. Camden supposes the name to be a contraction of David. Dai, Du, in the Welsh, signifies dark, in allusion to the complexion or color of the hair. Dhu, in Gaelic, the same, dark color, black. Deah, Anglo-Saxon, dark, obscure.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 12:41 PM

My married name means what it is, a draper. My maiden name meant maker of hoods. Cloth is apparently my designation.

My mother's maiden name meant brown ford and comes from a village in Yorkshire, which now has a bridge where the ford was.

Her mother's maiden name means 'Christ carrier' (or Christ is my burden')

My Christian names mean beloved by God and chosen by God. Sort of rules out athiesm really!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Strick
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 12:09 PM

Strickland: a pasture for young cattle, in this case (as I understand it) a common between some villages in Cumbria. Great and Little Strickland are villages there (in the Lake District?) and it was apparently a significant family name. Never on my side of the family, of course.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 11:30 AM

LOL, great thread!

I guess some ancestor was the son of Hud, but that doesn't stand for Housing and Urban Development! Wonder if Henry ever figured out the etymology of it...

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 10:54 AM

Several years ago I was told by a Dutchman in Avignon that my German surname (which came from the Dutch border area) means "goalkeeper" or "goalie." My brother says that it orginally meant "keeper of the altar." A German teacher looked it up and said that it was an obsolete form of the word "madman."

Somehow, all of them fit.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 10:46 AM

No Eric, no banjo players up the top end of the Worth Valley. Sad story really, there were some but they were a bit noisy. This resulted in them being kicked out onto the moors with the sheep. Harold the intelligent ram realised exactly who they were so he rounded up his mates and they decided to get their own back on the banjo players who had been indulging in unsavory acts with the ewes. Only the remains of their banjos were ever found.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Ben Dover
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 10:32 AM

My friend, Rhoda Horse, doesn't.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 10:27 AM

Any banjo players up the Worth valley ?
Shatner ? what the feck is that all about ?
eric

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:18 AM

No idea pal but one of my mates reckons that all with my surname came from a small village at the top of the worth valley... somewhat worrying.
However I am more interested where "Shatner" came from.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 08:13 AM

My last name is Hanson = son of Hans, ow the 'eck did that get to Yorkshire. And whats yours mean ced2
eric

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: greg stephens
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 07:29 AM

Kendall: assuming Kendall is the actual name yu are referring to, "chief of the river glen" doesnt seem that likely to me. The "ken" could indeed be the gaelic for head or chief( "can" "ceann" or something like it in Gaelic labguages, pen in the British branches of the Celtic languages). Dall would be "dale", the Anglo/norse/Danish word for valley. But I would guess Kendall is basically Kendal(modern spelling), the chief town in Westmorland(now Cumbria). The Ken is for the River Kent (the river that drowned 20 Chinese cockle-pickers recently) and the "dal" from dale. basically. Kent valley. The old name was Kirkby(church town) Kentdale.
   now, the etymology of the "kent" I dont know.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 07:26 AM

I think I'd have a problem if my last name were Lipschitz instead of Hugedich.......

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 07:13 AM

Blairs name, probably someone reversed the i and the a.

I understand my first name means "Chief of the river glen" Don't have a clue about my last. It was changed after my ancestors invaded England in 1066, and the original spelling was DeMors.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 07:03 AM

Nearly as problematical as Mr Richard Head

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Ben Dover
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 06:36 AM

oi juan, you think you got problems, look at my bloody name!

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 06:34 AM

Where did "Blair" come from I wonder? Is it a corruption of "Blur" as in to blur the truth, which could have been a name for a lawyer long ago. Come to think of it isn't he one now?

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: GUEST,juan kerr
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 06:22 AM

My name is self explanetary.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 06:13 AM

And what the 'eck does Schwarzenegger mean? I know schwarz is the german for black. Perhaps as Joan Baez described him when she appeared at the British folk Awards, ' neanderthal.'
eric

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 05:52 AM

Poly (Many) Hronon (Years) Poulou (City..the feminine version). So Polyhronopoulou means "city of many years". It's not my maiden name (RITMAN, from the Prussian meaning "man who rides") but I do prefer it just cause so few people are willing to try and pronounce it..(think Holy Honolulu)..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: el ted
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 05:42 AM

My surname is - livesinhullplaysguitaranddrinksbeer. But I don't know what it means.

Subject: RE: BS: What's in your name?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 05:37 AM

Stanger, apparently German (now Stenger) a maker of iron bars.

Subject: BS: What's in your name?
From: ced2
Date: 12 Mar 04 - 04:40 AM

Someone with the surname Miller probably had an ancestor who milled corn, wheat etc. Likewise the surname Wright probably came from the wheelwrights who mended wheels on carts. There are two that give me concern.
Firstly Shatner... what was his ancestor known for?
Secondly Bush.... Has there been some strange eveolution from plant life that gives a shrub the appearance of an upright ape but with even less brain and communication ability?
Any other interesting ones spring to mind?