Most unusual last names (races, olive, German, trace)

[Qtpie1968]

One of the most interesting last names I have seen in my life was a mr. Snowwhite...no joke!

[RDM66]

Originally Posted by freemkt

I've heard of the name Turnipseed, so the name is shared by others - perhaps a direct translation to English?

The maiden name of one of my maternal great-grandmothers was Turnipseed. Her family was in in rural North Carolina in the 1700's and moved to the hills and hollers of the eastern Missouri Ozarks in the early 1800's.


When I was growing up, I would ask my grandmother questions about her side of the family. "A bunch of hillbillies..." she always said.


That sums it up nicely. There's no shame in my game.

[Rakin]

Wonder how many Hitlers changed their name over the last 80 years. Certainly not a name you hear much of recently.

[brownbagg]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

A name in my family tree is Swiss/Jewish and it's Rebsamen. When they moved to the US, they changed it to Turnipseed of all things. The Rebsamen family in my family tree immigrated to South Carolina from Switzerland in the 1700s.

the name john turnipseed from S.C is in my family tree

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by Tritone

Odd surnames of slave ancestors in my family:

Taliaferro

An Italian surname that a number of black people have today see (Lorenzo Taliaferro). I linked it to one of the first families in Virginia.

Cruz (I mentioned this one in another thread)

A Spanish surname. Never met another American black family with the name Cruz. I have just a few living Cruz relatives left. There's no link whatsoever to a Latin-American. My Cruz ancestor was also not owned by a family with that name. They may have just chose this surname arbitrarily.

Whitesides.

This is a common surname, but its just odd sounding to me.

Loud

Uncommon. I think we are the only African-American Loud family in the country.

For those unfamiliar with the name, "Taliaferro", which means "ironworker" or "blacksmith", is pronounced "Tolliver" in Virginia and Kentucky, where it is more frequently encountered than elsewhere.

I expect many whose present surname actually IS "Tolliver" were once "Taliaferros".

[mostie]

I knew someone years and years ago in California, his last name was Godbehere.

[Empidonax]

Some of the most unusual and intriguing surnames I've encountered in my genealogy research are Bawdrip, Binion, Bubar, Hogaboom, Hooie, Luckadoo, Satterwhite, Thigpen, and Titsworth.

[NYC refugee]

Johneatter. She was S. African and a client through work.

[P47P47]

I worked with a guy whose surname was Bytheway, pronounced as "by-the-way", not "bythe-way".

[slingshot]

I met a guy named Bob Dirty Moccasin. He showed me his drivers license when I didn't believe him.