Origin of surnames [Archive]

Dave1984

12-01-2006, 13:32

Following on from the dissolution of the union thread, I was interested in how far back people are able to trace their families using their surname, and whether or not it's a solid enough family name for them to be able to confirm the "ancestral homeland", as it were, of their direct family.

I got this link through my e-mail the other day which should serve of some interest, although none to me as the two "true" family surnames I have were in America and Germany respectively at this time.

http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/default.aspx

Duke Malcolm

12-01-2006, 13:56

Well my surname, in 1998 and 1881 is damned near where I am now (except for the Shetland Isles)

Louis VI the Fat

12-01-2006, 14:21

Dave1984

12-01-2006, 14:25

Is there anything similar for German regions?

Justiciar

12-01-2006, 14:39

As far as I know the name Adshead is traditionally from the Stockport area, though there have been a fair few around the West Midlands and Lancashire - and then post-Industrial Revolution all over the bloody place. Ultimately.. it's a local name for local people!

We shall not, we-shall-not-be-moved! :yes:

I've heard a fair few stories of it's origin, though the most likely (and least romantic) is that it simply comes from the words; Adze Head.

Avicenna

12-01-2006, 14:49

I think I have one of the most common surnames in the world. It definitely was THE most common at one point...

No specific area though. I think the surnames were given by lords with that specific kingdom for good service.

KukriKhan

12-01-2006, 14:59

Of little use to most, but if you think your surname may be French (like Ann Coulter, or Paul Gascogne) or if you simply want to find out how prevalent your surname is in which region of France, try this (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cdip/index.htm).

Fascinating. I typed in Mom's maiden name (LaBute), and, if I read correctly, it hails from region 35, Ille et Vilaine, which is more info than I've ever known about that family (aside from stories about criminal activities and serial marriages -these from the womanfolk side only, of course). They're rumored to have been here (North America) since the early 1800's, vs Dad's Irish family who emigrated 1880'ish, from County Cork.

Redleg

12-01-2006, 15:44

Typed in my faternal Great-Grandfather who immigrated with his parents from England about just before the time of the 1881 map on the linked site. Interesting it gave credit to what I alreadly knew that he came from the southern area near the coast - which was all the data I had.

http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Comparisons.aspx?name=PHILPOTT&year=1881&altyear=1998&country=GB&type=name

Red Peasant

12-01-2006, 16:02

Of little use to most, but if you think your surname may be French (like Ann Coulter, or Paul Gascogne) or if you simply want to find out how prevalent your surname is in which region of France, try this (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cdip/index.htm).

Can be misleading, because surnames only became common after the Conquest in England, IIRC. Many surnames would have been assigned according to their local lords and fixed to their estates, so the people were not French/Norman at all, just plain English with an extra tag on their names, feudal possessions if you will. I think the biggest influx of genuine French surnames, with their bearers and their descendants actually originating in France, came with the arrival of large numbers of Huguenots in the 17th century.

Of course, with the US, it is a different story.

King Henry V

12-01-2006, 16:15

Hmmm, this is weird. I knwo for a fact my surname is German, however, on the English one it says it's imported from Greece/Cyprus and the French one says that the only person with my surname was born in Guyana.:inquisitive:

Aenlic

12-01-2006, 16:17

I've traced my surname back in direct line to my Lutheran German ancestors who came to Pennsylvania in 1748 from a small town, Schörnsheim, in the Palatinate of the Rhine, intending to farm along with many other Germans after William Penn began actively recruiting Germans to immigrate. I then found a very distant cousin still living in the same general area of Germany who had traced part of his family back to the same point at which the family split and some came to America. He also managed, using existing church records in the area, to trace our family back in a direct line even further to 1588 in a nearby town, Wörrstadt. Beyond that the record stops, because the church was burned during one of the many religious upheavals in the Palatinate. That's about as far as I can go in a direct line without making assumptions and guesses, lacking records to tie people together.

My surname itself, Hassinger, likely just means from the Hesse.

Dave1984

12-01-2006, 16:18

Anyone know anything about the surname Brutscher?

Aenlic

12-01-2006, 16:30

Try these sites. They'll at least get you started. The basic problem with German names is phonetic spellings made in the change from Germany to America. It can make things tough.

USGenweb Archives surname search (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsearch.htm)

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/

Take it from there, typing in Brutscher. It helps to know a little about where your family lived at various times. Even if it's just general info like you might know they moved from the East Coast or settled in such and such a state. :wink:

Have fun!

Edit: I just realized that you live in England, D Wilson. Sorry! The above will still help; but use the second link instead of the first.

IrishArmenian

12-01-2006, 16:31

I'm pretty sure that my family, the Beegans were from another region of Ireland until they settled in Kerry, displacing many.
The Vartanians, my mother's family, are direct descendants of St. Vartan Mamikoneon.

Louis VI the Fat

12-01-2006, 20:05

Fascinating. I typed in Mom's maiden name (LaBute), and, if I read correctly, it hails from region 35, Ille et Vilaine, which is more info than I've ever known about that family (aside from stories about criminal activities and serial marriages -these from the womanfolk side only, of course). They're rumored to have been here (North America) since the early 1800's, vs Dad's Irish family who emigrated 1880'ish, from County Cork.Yes, you read it correctly. That '35' denotes the département d'Ille-et-Vilaine, part of the région Brittany. Which makes sense, as a lot of Bretons emigrated to Canada / French America in this period. Some nice combined Celtic heritage you've got there, what with your dad's family being Irish.

The name LaBute itself doesn't really mean anything. As a verb it means to stumble, to hit, to lean, but I don't think it is etymologically related. (Je suis désolé mais je bute sur le mot. :clown: )

I did run the name through a genealogical site (http://www.patro.com/cgi-bin/acte/visuPage.cgi?ecran1=index-carte.htm&numero=000009809635&nom=LABUTE). There were LaBute's in three municipalities in this period. Surprisingly, only one LaBute was born in the period you speak of, in the tiny village of Balazé (http://perso.orange.fr/balaze/index.html) in Brittany. He or she was born in the last quarter of a century before 1800. Could it be your ancestor, the last European-born of your maternal ones? Speculative, but not at all unlikely...

GoreBag

12-01-2006, 20:53

Surnames are not a great way to tell of your own ancestry, considering how some of them came into existence, and how only one partner from most unions will keep their surname given to them at birth. It gets especially complicated when it deals with Britain and Ireland...

I hate surnames.

Tribesman

12-01-2006, 21:11

No problems with tracing the origins of my families surname .
It was given to them when they became yanks .

Strike For The South

12-02-2006, 03:16

Webster is north England. Just like me mum said we came from. Actually I can trace my direct GreatX15 Grandad to portsmouth England 1545 Be Jelaous

Red Peasant

12-02-2006, 07:52

Webster is north England. Just like me mum said we came from. Actually I can trace my direct GreatX15 Grandad to portsmouth England 1545 Be Jelaous

Brilliant SFTS! I knew that all the Iced Tea hadn't completely addled yer noggin.

Philippus Flavius Homovallumus

12-02-2006, 13:37

Webster is north England. Just like me mum said we came from. Actually I can trace my direct GreatX15 Grandad to portsmouth England 1545 Be Jelaous

Not of your geography.

Arr! Me hearty!

I know "Wallinder" is Swedish, and quite rare. Thats it.

KukriKhan

12-02-2006, 13:42

Yes, you read it correctly. That '35' denotes the département d'Ille-et-Vilaine, part of the région Brittany. Which makes sense, as a lot of Bretons emigrated to Canada / French America in this period. Some nice combined Celtic heritage you've got there, what with your dad's family being Irish.

The name LaBute itself doesn't really mean anything. As a verb it means to stumble, to hit, to lean, but I don't think it is etymologically related. (Je suis désolé mais je bute sur le mot. :clown: )

I did run the name through a genealogical site (http://www.patro.com/cgi-bin/acte/visuPage.cgi?ecran1=index-carte.htm&numero=000009809635&nom=LABUTE). There were LaBute's in three municipalities in this period. Surprisingly, only one LaBute was born in the period you speak of, in the tiny village of Balazé (http://perso.orange.fr/balaze/index.html) in Brittany. He or she was born in the last quarter of a century before 1800. Could it be your ancestor, the last European-born of your maternal ones? Speculative, but not at all unlikely...

Thank you very much for that research, Louis:bow: Speculative or not, Balazé now has a new-found American son, as far as I'm concerned. If I can find photos of some Balazé citizens -and they resemble Mom in any way, I'll stand convinced beyond doubt (many americans crave this kind of connection, after generations of feigned ignorance). I guess I should should start learning the words to La Marseillaise. Again: thanks.

Mithrandir

12-02-2006, 16:48

Some friendly advice:
becareful with posting your real name on the net.

A lot of companies google their applicants.

Philippus Flavius Homovallumus

12-02-2006, 17:07

Googling Wallinder will get you a racing driver and a guy in corperate law in Sweden.

:laugh4:

Fragony

12-02-2006, 17:09

My last name is 'Foeth' which is a small village in Germany. Most surnames here are about ones profession and region.

I can trace a whole lot further, the most interesting is 'Flip met de Bellen' (flip with the bells, I suspect he was a lepra patient), and I actually have royal blood yay.

DukeofSerbia

12-02-2006, 19:39

I found my surname traces to early XIV century via book "Surnames in Montenego". It seems that my ancestor was deacon.

Aenlic

12-02-2006, 19:44

Some friendly advice:
becareful with posting your real name on the net.

A lot of companies google their applicants.

I don't see the Org as a negative and any company which did wouldn't be one at which I'd willingly work. :wink:

lars573

12-03-2006, 00:06

So I plugged in all the family names I knew.

My last name is Smith. Which is concentrated around Suffolk and then in the Midlands. Also in the Grampain region of Scotland for some reason.

My mom's maiden name was Tippett. Which is concentrated in Cornwall. Which concurs with what she new from genealogical stuff one of her uncles did. Traced back the male line to a family of ship builders in Plymouth in the 18th century.

My paternal grandmothers maiden name was Edwards. Which is concentrated in Wales. But that can be explained by nobles giving their name to their Welshmen subjects.

Maternal grandmothers maiden name was Nelson (although my grandmother believes her family is Irish :dizzy2: ). Which is concentraed most heavily in north west England and south west Scotland.

The maiden names I have for some of my great grand mothers are Dow (from the highlands :2thumbsup:) and Yeadon (Yorkshire baby).

Somebody Else

12-03-2006, 00:29

Some friendly advice:
becareful with posting your real name on the net.

A lot of companies google their applicants.

Googling my name turns up some murderous criminal. Um, better keep quiet about that...

Otherwise, my surnames are far too boring to mention. But one came over in the conquest (grandmother's). My mother's is, well, northern. Somewhere near Mongolia a coupla generations back...

Marshal Murat

12-03-2006, 04:55

My surname:
Blevins
is theoretically from Welsh Ble-vin, for Wolf or something like that.

BDC

12-03-2006, 23:55

Kind of dubious about the benefits of tracing ancestors (besides general interest)...

Assume 5 generations a century and you have 2^25 ancestors by 5 centuries ago. That's 33,554,432 people... Ignoring the fact everyone is more inbred than they like to think, one person is still not going to mean much.

Even assuming 4 generations a century, your ancestor 250 years ago only makes up 1/1024 of your background. Where are the other 1023?

King Henry V

12-04-2006, 01:30

So I guess most of us are related to each other in some way or another.

Crazed Rabbit

12-04-2006, 01:56

I'm fairly sure where my surname orginated from, given my ancestry and the name itself.

Crazed Rabbit

Louis VI the Fat

12-04-2006, 01:59

Even assuming 4 generations a century, your ancestor 250 years ago only makes up 1/1024 of your background. Where are the other 1023?I'd say most of 'm are dead and buried...

Aenlic

12-04-2006, 03:41

So I guess most of us are related to each other in some way or another.

Wasn't there a famous statistical study which showed that 1 out of every 10 people is descend from Genghis Khan, or was it Attila? Something like that anyway. :wink:

If the population bottleneck theory of migration out of Africa is correct, than everyone on the planet is descended from a pool of people as small as 1000-2000 individuals who appear to have barely survived some major catastrophe.

GoreBag

12-04-2006, 03:48

Well, that was 1 out of every 10 Britons, and that was indeed Genghis Khan.

Incongruous

12-04-2006, 04:03

Hmm, well my name is an amalgamation of two names, Szabo-Gillies.

Gillies originated from Guy/Gey/Gay from France, Its comes down from a Frenchman who went with Bonnie Prince Charlie to Scotland. Ended up staying in Scotland, couple of generations back one of my grandfathers married into the Ashwyd (Ashwood) family. Possibly welsh?
Szabo comes from Shoemaker in Magyar.

IrishArmenian

12-04-2006, 05:53

Wasn't there a famous statistical study which showed that 1 out of every 10 people is descend from Genghis Khan, or was it Attila? Something like that anyway. :wink:

If the population bottleneck theory of migration out of Africa is correct, than everyone on the planet is descended from a pool of people as small as 1000-2000 individuals who appear to have barely survived some major catastrophe.
I thought it was 1/100 world wide. I did read that 85% of Europe is descended from Charlemagne.
By the way, I believe most surnames come from trades/traits, correct?
Beegan, as far as I know, means something along the lines of Bee Keeper (one who cultivates honey) yes/no?

BDC

12-04-2006, 22:14

I'd say most of 'm are dead and buried...

Hehe. I'd say the vast majority of my ancestors are dead and buried.

Unless there is some dark family secret...

Samurai Waki

12-04-2006, 22:31

My Surname Originated in Wales. My Mother's Surname Originated in Hungary.

macsen rufus

12-05-2006, 14:29

My surname is common as muck, but it should have been Wilson instead - if only my father had been born in wedlock, ahem.... And I would have had a right to an Australian passport :thumbsdown:

What little I do know of my family tree is that it's mostly from Lincolnshire, partly Sephardic Jewish (I know, I know, there's no such thing as "partly Jewish"....) and partly descended from some Lord and his scullery maid, another illegitimacy. And no doubt the Ozzie branch was good old convict stock as well. There's a big hole in my ancestry from about three generations back all the way to Mitochondrial Eve.