| Author | Message | ||
     Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
A traditional origin for surnames in the western world is the occupation of your ancestors. For example if your name is Taylor, your ancestors made clothes, Cooper, they made barrels, Smith – they were blacksmiths (probably Black as well and Schwartz as this is of course the German for Black). Cook, Friar (Fry), etc are fairly obvious. Some spellings get bastardized over the years but can still be worked out. A MacMahon made anoraks, a Campbell was a bell ringer who played the slightly effeminate sounding bell… Going by this logic, what does this say about your ancestors if you surname is Hoare? And if your name is Dewsnip (I met a guy yesterday with this name) did your ancestors perform religion specific circumcision? | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.227.177 |
Surnames beginning with van and ending in berg are pretty common here, but to Americans, apparently, the words denote Dutch or jewish ancestry, hence a certain respectability . . . ho-hum. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Weber, you're being playful of course, but the Campbell clan in Scotland surely predates that sense of 'camp' (which stems from Victorian times) by centuries. 'Lane' requires little interpretation. And you can keep your smart remarks about two-way traffic to yourself, thanks very much.  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
'Bestwick' is, of course, a traditional male claim usually followed by the phrase 'in five counties'. Though, as ever, it's topped by the quiet eloquence of the Scots name 'Burns'. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
'Flynn', apparently, is derived from the Gaelic word for 'reddish, ruddy'. I swear I haven't made that up. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Bestwick is apparently a locational name... there's one in Lancashire and another in Yorkshire, it seems. I think I'm from the Yorkshire lot: http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Bestwick But I like Joel's explanation better...  | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Alternatively it was the person who made the finest quality string to go in the middle of a candle | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.67.195.118 |
Oliver, in the ancient Anglo-Saxon, translates as 'Mighty Editor, Scourge of Authors.' | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
>>>>A MacMahon made anoraks Ah, the death of cottage industry. Now McMahons only wear them. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.72 |
Lynch has a few varients. There's the 'a green sward of land' and, of course, the notorious string 'em up one... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>Bestwick is apparently a locational name... there's one in Lancashire and another in Yorkshire, it seems. I think I'm from the Yorkshire lot<< In that case, you're clearly from good stock, Simon - not so sure you would be if you came from the Lancashire lot. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
I nicked my surname from my husband (that and everything else!  ), but Callaghan, apparently, has something to do with Irish kings. My original surname - Grist - is something of a mystery. I've read somewhere that it might be derived from 'gris', French for 'grey' - which isn't very complimentary really, is it? I used to get lots of jokes about 'grist to the mill', but it has nothing to do with millers or corn, so far as I'm aware. And poor GaryMc - you folks are always poking fun at him when he's not here to defend himself. I'm starting to feel quite sorry for him. He's a good writer you know ...  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.228.249 |
And poor GaryMc - you folks are always poking fun at him when he's not here to defend himself. I'm starting to feel quite sorry for him. I have it on very good authority that Gary is the unnamed British man in this article. From what others here have privately emailed me in the past, this is apparently a common "come-on" tactic of his as well (I won't reveal the sex of the emailers; let's just say, it wasn't just one or the other). Anyway, unless he appears here within a few hours to deny these charges, well... we can only assume.... http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/dpgo_woman_sets_fire_to_mans_genitals_lwf_080709 _2889469 | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
'Flynn', apparently, is derived from the Gaelic word for 'reddish, ruddy'. I swear I haven't made that up. @Joel: Dear me, I had no idea - I just nicked it from Errol! Does the fact that it's a pseudonym invalidate the meaning? | ||
| Steveduffy (Steveduffy) Username: Steveduffy Registered: 05-2009 Posted From: 86.164.32.111 |
According to them as know this sort of thing, Duffy is an Anglicization of the ancient Gaelic personal name "Mac Dhubhshith" - which does not, as you might have supposed, denote a Scotsman working in the Jamaican music business, but is a compound of elements, "mac" meaning "son of" plus "dubh" ("black") and "sith" ("peace"), hence "son of the black one of peace"... or else it's "son of the black one of the Sith", which would presumably make me Luke Skywalker. Who knows? | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.227.90.149 |
If anyone can find a definition for "Strantzas" that is not in essence a joke at my expense I'd love to hear it. So far, my investigations have proven fruitless. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
It may be Australian in original . . . http://www.facebook.com/people/Stefanie-Strantzas/610870271 I like to research thoroughly. It's the PhD training. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.227.90.149 |
No, that line of the tree is new to Australia. She's first-generation Australian at best. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I was, er, was taking ze pizz. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 81.155.107.41 |
The name 'Strantzas' derives from the literary term 'Strantzaic' | ||
| Steveduffy (Steveduffy) Username: Steveduffy Registered: 05-2009 Posted From: 86.164.32.111 |
Plus, it's an anagram of "Tzars' Tans". Sunbeds in old St Petersburg? Could happen. | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 24.114.232.34 |
Hence my qualifier "that isn't a joke..." why oh why do I waste my time with you lot? | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>why oh why do I waste my time with you lot?<< Probably because you love us, Simon .. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
>>>why oh why do I waste my time with you lot? Maybe because whenever you phone The Samaritans, the person who answers the call commits suicide. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.152 |
And poor GaryMc - you folks are always poking fun at him when he's not here to defend himself. I'm starting to feel quite sorry for him. Another Gary M. siting, btw, here in the States this time.... http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Woman-Duped-by-Dirty-Diaper-Faker-528753 27.html | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Aw, Craig, you are horrible to poor Gary. You're going to make me go all motherly over him now. Oh well, perhaps not! |