What's in a Name?

For a more complete on-line index of names and their origins and an explanations of how names have developed around the world, go to the Surnames: What's in a Name? web site. And then, there is also Family Chronicle - Surname Origin List. These webmasters at these sites advertise they will do a lookup for your name and add it to their list if they don't have it. I think they have a limit, like two names at time or something like that.

If you wish to see the frequency of a name and ranking in the 1990 census,look at the Census Name Search Page. You can look for last name, first name male, first name female. (This is not a representation of the full census, or even a statistical sample. It is a collection of names from certain cities in the 1990 census, so may have certain geographical / ethnic errors in it. But, it's still fun!)

Another interesting name site is a site that will show a map showing the distribution of that surname by state in various 1800 censuses, as well as 1990. This is the Hamrick Software Surname Distribution Site. Also, check out Links to Surname Distribution Pages.

By the way, guessing one's heritage by name may not necessarily be accurate. Various form of the same name may have existed in various countries and then "anglicized" here. For example, Feather at first blush is English in origin. Our German ancestor Feather was originally Vatter in Germany, then, at various times here was Fetter, Fether, and finally Feather. And I found drastic differences from one dictionary to another on sources and explanations of various surnames.

(PS. If your interest is in the area of given names, start your search in Yahoo - Names for Babies.)

Meanings of Some of Our Family Names

Beaty: Scotch or Scotch/Irish. Per Dictionary of American Family Names: Scottish & English: descendant of little Bate or Baty, pet forms of Bartholomew or of Beath or Beat, pet forms of Beatrice or Beatrix.

According to The Clans of Scotland web page, Beattie was a sept of the MacBain clan. Sept means a group of people associated with or protected by a clan. Members of septs sometimes took the surname of the clan and sometimes had their own name. Some sept names are common to more than one clan. MacBain means: Son of the Lively One. Visit the MacBean Web Page and Clan MacBean of North America Home Page.

Another source say: "The name and family of Beatty seems to have had its origin in the northern lowlands of Scotland. It extended to the north of Ireland, in a more limited degree to England, and has finally spread to all parts of the world to which these countries have sent out immigrants.

The name is supposed to have been derived from the Latin, Beatus, which has also made Beaton. But the name of the Cardinal seems not to have been popular among the Scotch Reformers - and Beate was preferred - which after softening the final letter into "ie" and sometimes duplicating the middle consonant, gave either Beatie or Beattie - the usual spelling in Scotland.

In migrating to the the other island, it has changed the termination into "y", so that commonly the Irish has the spelling Beaty, or more frequently, Beatty.

In going in to the southern kingdom another change took place, by eliminating the first "e" in the name, so that it became either Baty, Batty, or Batey.

Such are some of the variations of a single common name, and by the spelling it may be generally known whether the family comes from Scotland, Ireland, or England."

Charlton: (British). "Place of the free-peasants/villeins," places in England." Per: Family Chronicle - Surname Origin List.

Connoly: Note: The U.S. Surname Distribution List doesn't show Connoly in the top 50,000 surname list in America, but does show Connolly, the more common spelling of the name. One source I consulted said: Irish version of this name means grandson of Conghal or Conghalash (valorous) the names of seven Irish saints. Another source said: "In Irish the name is O Conghaile, which means valorous." Now, valorous, according to my regular dictionary means: courageous, brave.

Earhart: "Earhart is an Americanized version of Erhart and Erhardt, the German patronymic name from the elements era = honor + hard = brave. The name has also been known to be adopted by Ashkenazic Jews. Erard is the French version." Per Webmaster at What's in a Name website.

Feather: In our case, an Americanization of Vatter (See Vatter, below). Our ancestor was born in Germany. His original name was Vatter. On his marriage certificate, he was Fether. And his children are all Feather. There are English Feathers, which means one who comes from Featherstone, the name of places in Northumberland and Yorkshire. Also, one who worked, or sold, feathers. However, these origin meanings aren't so relevant for us descended from Vatter/Feather. (See Vatter below.)

Fletcher: English. One who made or sold arrows, and sometimes bows as well.

Johnston: Scottish: One who is from "John's Town", or "John's Settlement".

By the way, Johnston is NOT a variation of the name Johnson, at least in Scotland. Johnson is a name common from Scandinavian countries deriving from "son of John". Johnston is pretty much limited to Scotland and is derived, roughly from "John's town". A legitimate variation of Johnston is Johnstone. Although we appreciate the opportunity to use the Johnson mailing lists and other Johnson research vehicles, we really are genealogically a separate name and not a derivation of that name (with a separate, distinct history going back to 1200 A.D.) In other words, we are not related to the Johnson's any more than to any other name from Scotland. However, one name dictionary I consulted indicated there were English Johnston's who may have adopted the name when surnames were starting to be used because it was "cool", or Scots who moved to England years ago.

McCampbell: Scotch/Irish From "The McCampbell Family in America" by William Richard McCampbell: "We understand the McCampbell name is NOT found in Scotland or Ireland. Mc (or Mac as used by a few) means "son of" and McCampbells are stated to be a branch of the Campbells of Auchinbreck which, in turn, is a branch of the Campbells of Argyle. John McCampbell (McCathmhaoill in Gaelic) was born in Londonderry, Ireland about 1688 and is believed to be the son of William Campbell. William was born in Campbelltown, Scotland about 1660. He died in Londonderry, Ireland in 1723."

So, it appears the McCampbell name is an Americanization of the Scotch-Irish Campbell name. As such, it is quite possible that all McCampbell's in America may be descendants of John McCampbell, unless another Campbell did the same thing.

Millirons: Per a Millirons researcher: Americanization of the German surname Muhleisen or Muhleysen. Muhle is Mill in English. Eisen is Iron in English, thus Muhleisen becomes Milliron. Therefore, derived from an occupation involving iron, possibly working in an iron smelter or ironworks. It is suspected that people with these German original names have adopted Milliron (singular), Milliren, Millison, Milleson, as well as Milleyse, Milleybe, Milleysin, Melysey, Muehleissen, and other possible variations.

The U. S. Surname Distribution map, referred to above, shows both Milliron and Millirons in the top 50,000 surnames in America.

Nellist: English. Note the U.S. Surname Distribution List does not show Nellist in the top 50,000 names of America. Haven't found in a name dictionary yet.

Powers: The Power/Powers name was originally de la Poer. De la Poer fought alongside Rossiter and William the Coqueror in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. Descendants of these two families then went to Ireland in 1169 with Strongbow. A good reference book is "Irish Pedigrees" by O'Hart. The Power family motto is "per crucem ad coronam" - "by the Cross to a crown"

Snider: Assumed to be a variation of Snyder. Snyder: Dutch form of Taylor, an occupational name for the person who stitched coats and clothing. Per What's in a Name web site.

Taylor: Either English or Scottish, both have family crests, although this surname was used in Ireland since the 14th Century, also. Comes from the act of making clothes, or some say some Taylor's are descendants of William Taillefer.

Taylor was the original spelling of the craft of sewing clothes. When common spelling of the craft was changed to "tailor", the people with the name "Taylor" kept the old spelling (similar to Smythe, etc). Variations I have run across include Tailor, Tailer, Taylor, Taylour, Tayleur.

According to the name dictionaries I have consulted, the professional wordsmiths are mystified as to why there are so many Taylor's, as tailors in medieval times could only be afforded by the nobility, most people made their own clothes. Taylor is usually in the top ten, certainly top twenty names in occurence in most English speaking countries.

One possible explanation for some of this is the story that many English Taylor's are not descendants of folks who practiced the art of sewing clothes, but rather were descendants of a Roman who came to England. According to a French genealogist, the original ancestor of the Taylor's whose name originated in this fashion was one Wulgrin, grandfather of William Taillefer, who was created Count of Perigord and Angouleme in Normandy by his kinsman, Charles the Bold of France. According to Burke's History of the Landed Gentry of England, the Norman baron Taillefer accompanied William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, and fell in the Battle of Hastings. The name has been variously spelled, from Taillefer, Taliaferro, Taylefer, Taylard, and finally modernized into Taylor.

Toland or Tolland: English. One who comes from Tolland (land of Tone River in Somerset.

Vatter: "The German nickname Vetter is derived from fater = father, by way of Old High German fetiro, which was a generic term for male relatives. The modern German word vetter means 'cousin.' The surname evolved from Middle High German vetere = uncle, nephew - in the sense of father's brother, or brother's son. In Northern Germany, it was also used as a given name. Votter is a variation found in Bavaria; Vetterle, Votterl are diminutive forms." Source: Webmaster of What's in a Name website. The spelling of Vatter might even have been a variation of Vetter, which is much more prevalent. When our immigrant emigrated from Germany, names were often spelled by clerks who might speak English trying to spell German names as they heard them, phoenetically.