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Old 09-27-2010, 04:28 PM
 
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Has anyone ever looked up what the surnames on your family tree mean?

Some of mine are interesting...

Morris - someone who danced when the Moors were expelled from Spain

Clark - originally Clerk or Cleric, means someone who wrote (like a scribe)

Weir - from Viking word "Ver" meaning fishing place

Combest - Old English "cumb" means valley

Rogers - Germanic words "hrod" (prowess) and "geri" (spear) together meaning someone good a using a spear.

Here is a useful website to find out meanings of most (but not less common) surnames

rogers Family Crest

Last edited by censusdata; 09-27-2010 at 05:07 PM..
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Old 09-27-2010, 05:30 PM
 
Location: Florida
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Grant - Norman "Grand" meaning 'Big or Eminent'.
Edwards - derived from the personal name Edward, it is in turn derived from the Old English forename "Eadweard", which literally means 'prosperity-guard'.
Peters - derived from the personal name Peter, which is derived from the Latin name Petrus, which in turn comes from the Greek name Petros. The word "petros" means 'rock' or 'stone'.
Maddox - derived from the Welsh personal name Madoc. This was from the Old Welsh name Matoc, which had the literal meaning of 'goodly'.
Williams - derived from the personal name William, which derived from the German name Wilhelm.
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Old 09-27-2010, 06:38 PM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
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Cox: From its first bearer, who was a person who bore a fancied resemblance to a rooster. It was applied both to early risers and those who strutted proudly.

Carbine: Type of surname for a person with dark hair. Originally derived from the Old French word "corbet," which means "dark haired".

Burnett: Burnett was first used as a surname by the descendants of the Boernician tribe. It was a name for a person with brown or dark brown.

Taylor: The surname Taylor was an occupational name for a tailor.

Gregory: From the personal name Gregory.


I see a dark haired pattern here, and wouldn't you know it, I am. Dark brown.
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Old 09-28-2010, 05:47 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by censusdata View Post
Has anyone ever looked up what the surnames on your family tree mean?
I've looked up all the names on my mom's side because I've written a history of each family for a heritage book I'm making for her. I started each history off by explaining the family name meaning.

Some of mine:

"Narum" is the Americanized spelling of "Nærum" which is a habitational name from farmsteads in eastern Norway. It is derived from the Old Norse word Nórheimar, from nór which means "narrows" or "narrow passage (in a river, fjord, or lake)" and also the word heimr which means "homestead" or "home".

Moyer is an Anglicized form of Meyer which derived from the High Middle German "meier", a status name for steward, bailiff or overseer. It later came to be used to denote a tenant farmer.

McBride is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Brighde", meaning "son of the servant of (Saint) Brigid", an Abbess of Kildare who died in 525 A.D.

Kratz - There are three possible origins for this name. The first is a shortened version of the medieval Pankratz which was a personal name given in honor of St Pancras. The second is a variation of Kraatz which is a location in Brandenburg. The last is an occupational name for someone who carded wool or a similar occupation.

Quote:
Here is a useful website to find out meanings of most (but not less common) surnames

rogers Family Crest
Ancestry.com have a name meaning look up too but I'm not sure if you have to be a member to access it. But they also supply a bunch of statistics about name which can provide some other insights.
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Old 09-28-2010, 08:49 AM
 
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I looked at the website posted. In a book on german names at the San Antonio Public Library, under Hilpert it lists the family as being from Munich and Leipzig.The ones from leipzig are descendants of an illegitamet son of a Thuringian nobleman.My distant cousin Larry got this information from a Dr.Walter Hilpert when he was in Germany for Us Army Intelligence and was trying to look into the family tree in his spare time.
I do have relatives in Himmelstadt, which is in the area they mentioned on the site,but another german book I saw at the local library also mentioned Munich and Leipzig in connection to our name.
Also, it lists the family under two contries, Scotland and Germany.I clicked on Germany. The coat of arms is the same as in Seibmacher's Burgerlich Wappenbusch,a copy of which cousin Larry sent to me(just the page with our name on it.) However, the crest is wrong. In Seibmacher's book, on top of the wreath sits a coronet.This device was used by nobility,including the untitled nobility.These are people who while noble, don't have a title like Baron of Boston or Duke of Norfolk.
Momma once said to me that daddy told her his family was entitled to use von in their name.
Also, there is no running greyhound.Instead, inside the coronet, are two upright bird wings, each with a fleur de lisle on them.
You have to watch some of these sites with their information.I did Popp, my mom's side.They mentioned Germany and Scotland.Well, the name is also hungarian too, only they spell it Pape.
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Old 09-28-2010, 09:43 AM
 
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Øksendal--Norwegian: oxen valley
Anderson--Norwegian: patronymic
Wøien--very old Norwegian for a water crossing
Hovland--Norwegian: headland
Bjurstrom--Swedish: beaver-stream
Kjäll--Swedish: kettle
Livdalen--Norwegian; life valley
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Old 10-03-2010, 12:02 PM
Status: "Wishing all the best of health and peace!" (set 13 hours ago)
 
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Kohn - Hungarian version of Cohen - a Jewish priest.
DeBisschop - (Belgium/French) meaning "of the bishop" which is a Christian priest of higher authority
Abbott - the head of a monastery.
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Old 10-03-2010, 01:26 PM
 
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Bates - which may be from a nickname for Bartholemew, or possibly connected with boatman.

Alyea and Banta - both evidently from place names in France and Frisia

Carroll - usually considered to refer to a warrior, prob. from the Irish word cearbh, hack

Holleran - derived from the Irish word for a foreigner - a pirate or mercenary.

Burke - originally de Burgo, from the word burgh for town.

Ryan - the latter part of an old Irish given name. The entire name may have meant servant or devotee of Rian, presumed to have been a deity in pre-Christian times.

Kelly - once a given name. Several possibilities, but the Irish word for strife is the usual choice.

Woods - Old English, probably describing a location near forests or the occupation of woodcutter.

Moon - A German name Anglicized in the early 1700's, but it appears in several forms so which, if any of them was the original German name used by this family is uncertain.

Kingston - from an Anglo-Saxon word which probably referred to a royal manor or site.

McGee - Son of Aodh, aodh meaning fire.

Tonkin - A Cornish name which may be a diminutive for Anthony.
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Old 10-05-2010, 09:33 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
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Carroll --- Cearbhaill,(pronounced just like Carroll) means "warlike champion". (Irish)

Sakalavska --- "Falcon" (Polish)

Davice --- Unknown and no longer in existence (presumably Lithuanian).
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Old 10-05-2010, 10:23 PM
 
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Shefreeka Snackpants-

Eskimo (or Druid?) for "the cattle are dying..."



Sadly, our family tree

....is actually more like a family weed. wth!
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