I'm so far enjoying catching up reading some of the threads here in the History section. Recently I bothered to find some interesting details about the origin of my clan name, and I am curious about some of you out there. Surnames originated out of the need for local governments to issue taxes on their populations, this is why most surnames have a distinctive profession or a locale tied to their etymology. Sooo, Whats in a name? Wood Origins - England & Scotland Variants - Woods, Wode, Woodd, Woode, Wod, Wode Background - Possibly referring merely to those who lived in and/or around "the woods". However, in such times nearly every town was located in such surroundings. There are other possible derivations such as the Old English Wod, Wad, and Middle English Wod, Wode which were nicknames for an "Eccentric or Wild, Frenzied" person. While the latter is a much less common interpretation of the surname, I did see that one of the Wood family crests shows what appears to be a half-naked barbarian warrior wielding a club. My father's male side of the family also has a history of being abnormally tall(6'5+) as well as having short tempers, which could possibly suit the "frenzied warrior" title. So now, I apparrently have an excuse the next time a girlfriend refers to me as a psycho.
There are several sites out there you can use. Even Wikipedia has information on most common surnames. However there are specific databases out there as well, such as http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wood Also http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/p/wood.htm http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Wood
I recall reading how like the name Smith is associated with ancestors who were blacksmiths, it seemed alot of last names were connected to ones jobs or titles or what have you. Not sure how accurate that is but it would make sense.
Interesting you bring up Smith. I was under the same impression, but apparently there are other possible meanings. It goes back to the word "Smitan", which meant to Smite, or Strike. It became an extremely popular surname in the old times which has obviously carried over to current ages. I pulled this from the Internet Surname DB. Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/smith#ixzz1ASoA7QFo
Knowles is a common Irish (from Gaelic Ó Tnúthghail, "valorous desire") or English (meaning "dweller by the knoll") surname, and may refer to many people. ~From Wikipedia Here's to hoping I have Irish somewhere in me.
Mine is kind of strange..... "Justice-Who is like god-Frenzied" If I could go back and give myself a name, I would have taken "The Dude-Who Abides"
My last name is Nomina (and you thought I just spelled phenomenon wrong in my screen name) - which translates to...name. Is there any more boring name than name?
I always thought you were doing a play on "Phenomenal", which would give credence to the fact that you also grew up watching Marino sling the ball around and not the garbage we have had to put up with since then.
My last name is Hunsinger but was Huntsaecker when my ancestors boarded the boat from the Palatinate in the 1730's. From what I gather, that name means someone who lived on a lousy piece of ground! It may well have been a reference to folks who had moved down the Rhine from Switzerland because their land there was bad or because when they moved they were shunted on to bad land in the Alsace.
Scott. There are a bunch of stupid myths about the name, but the real two are: 1. Latin word for Gael. 2. Saxon in origin and an occupational surname for a tax collector. Hence "he got off Scott free." English equivalent of the German Schott. We've traced our family (Scott) back to the 1300s in Kent, England. They were there until the 1640s when they left for America. They either: 1. Fled to their lands in England during that little Scottish revolution in the 1300s; the one they made a movie out of, Braveheart. or 2. Have no connection to Scotland, and the name is from the second etymology listed above.
I'm doing genealogy on the side so I see so many surnames but my surname is Balistreri Origins: border region of France/Spain Meaning: archer, archery Immigrated to Palermo, Sicily at some point in the 1500s