h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"As a former McGarr, I can honestly say I *never* pronounced the 'c' is always m'garr."

Does that mean your username should strictly be spelt McGwitch?

My surname is Green. This is a toponym: a name deriving from a place. An ancestor probably lived near the village green. It's a fairly common name. There's a variant spelling: Greene. This version is far more common than mine here in Ireland, so people often misspell my name. In England, both spellings exist, and the Greene version is rather more posh.

My mother's family name is Papandreou. This is a Greek Cypriot name: Father Andrew. (Greek Orthodox priests are allowed to be married.)

Another ancestor (on the English side) had the name Waters. Again, this is a toponym, from someone who lived near the waters.

***

I say "here in Ireland", though I'm actually in Colorado at the moment, visiting relatives on the Polish side of my family.

TRiG.

And I've just visited Mesa Verde, which is a fascinating place.

I was about to comment on the name Verde there. Is it a toponym in Italian too?

Traveller in Times in the Census Queue
"It was Napoleon Bonaparte demanding to know who was who.
My grand dad told the chap writing the names we come from the orchard "

Apparently my surname means 'crooked hill', from the local hill where the family originated.

My mother's family name comes from a small village in the Yorkshire Dales. I visited it a few years ago. There's not much there - but I noticed the Post Office sold mugs with her/their name on. As I bought one, I explained to the woman in the shop why I wanted one. She said two very odd things to me:

'We get quite a few people in here called [Name].'

( I wonder why that would be?)

and

'Oddly enough - there's nobody in the village called [Name]'.

Which when you think about how people got surnames is a bit daft. It was only after people had moved *away* from somewhere that it would have made any sense to call them 'John-from-Wherever'. The ones that stayed put would have been John the Farmer; John the Miller; John the Blacksmith; etc.

I'm suddenly reminded of the old joke:
'But I shag just *one* sheep...!'

re: surnames and where they come from.
The demand for them from the govt. of the day was often not welcome.
The 1901 census of the UK contains some interesting insights into how some names came about

Check out:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/11/15/could_you_be_descended/

which has some very interesting surnames listed. I suspect their descendants might not have kept them though. I won;t post them as they'd break the 'nice society' filter but I did like Valentine Fart from london.

A friend from Lewis tells me that they're particularly inventive with nicknames up there. They have to be - everyone's called 'MacLeod'. He knows someone named Callum who's particularly fond of his designer labels. They call him...




...Callum Klein.

Shatter and Winkle are pretty common names, not necessarily made up.

And Shite could easily be an anglicisation of Scheidt (pronounced the same), the German surname. There's a Renaissance composer called Scheidt, and Recumbentman often plays Scheidt at his concerts, challenging anybody with his stern eye to laugh.

I once met a woman whose surname was "Titball", pronounced "Tibble".

>Does that mean your username should strictly be spelt McGwitch?<

Quite possibly, Bob

I *swear* this is true...

Years ago,on a work trip to Germany, I was introduced to a Herr Warncke and Mister Beetz.

It almost killed myself keeping a straight face.

BOB and Everyone else,

This has been a most interesting subject for me to hear about from people. I am very much enjoying the responses from people. Thankyou and please keep sending.
J. Redbear

Perhaps a rabbit trail but most of my life I have heard many people pronounce Mac and Mc just as M' as in M'neil or m'kay etc. It never seemed a right thing once I learned the spellings.
JR

Readyfreddy,
Seems much on the accent of people I am told at this moment it is more a dialect as a better word for dialect of English, for in listening to my own pronouncing I hear Mak intosh and also Mik call.
My daughter is a teacher of English, (never you would imagine it would you!) and has just mentioned this to me. Any other thoughts on dialect and names ?
JR

I have just re-read my post. I am sorry, I must be growing tired I re-write.....
Much it seems depends on the dialect of English used by the speaker and the bearer. I hear Mak and also Mik when I pronounce. Are there any others with thinking on the subject of dialects and names ?
Thankyou for your pardon, \
JR

Edward Bonobo,
That is an amusing thing to say! I laugh.
We call Native Americans that live in the area of swamps 'Muskeego's', They were not thought well of in the past because to survive such places meant much dishonest dealing with others and that they were not stong enough to make a home in dry land by making war and then be strong enough to keep the land. It was our way. Not a good way but I think needed to be for us all. I do not say ANY insult to your people for being in the Bogs. I do not know of your people.
JR

Well *someone* has to live in bogs.

But I was just poking fun at the idea of people who pride themselves in their ancestry. Hell - everyone's got ancestry! Better to take pride in who *you* are.

People are sometimes cruel to their children in the use of baptised names and surnames. I knew a man named Rusty Gates and his great aunt was named Pearlie. I also knew well a freind named Justin Case. I wonder what thinking was in the mind of parents as these all told me that it made them stand out in ways unpleasant for a young person.
JR