There are many people in the United States, which also means there are many last names. Most of the time it is easy to see where last names come from i.e. Kilpatrick is Irish, von Steuben is German, and DiMaggio is Italian, but last names go deeper than that. Last names were often given to a person based on their line of work or their personality. John Smith may have started out as a black smith, and Dave Miller may have once been (yes, you guessed it) a miller. The last name Carty is predominantly Irish, but it's also an anglicized form of the Gaelic last name Ó Cárthaigh,which is a byname that means "loving". So
Mr. Carty's ancestors were probably a very loving, Gaelic bunch. My last name, Hoffmann, has a little more history behind it. Hoffmann is a German/Jewish last name that was given to a farmer that owned his own land. It later evolved into a status name for a manager of a farm. The name evolved to become Jewish because many Jews held managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. My father is not currently a farm manager, but centuries ago I would have been working on a farm instead of working on this blog post. Another German surname is Drechsler. It is a varriant of Dressler which was a occupational name given to a turner (someone who makes small objects out of wood or other materials). The name Drechsler evolved into the standard German term for a wood turner. A nice Italian last name like Biasi goes back pretty far. It is a variant of the surname Biagi, which comes from the Latin, Blasius, which was a Roman family name, which was a byname for someone who had a speech or gait defect (from the Latin blaesus meaning 'stammering', or the Greek blaisos meaning 'bow-legged'). It is fun to learn where your family may have started out. Whether you are a loving Gaelic, a farm managing or wood turning German, or a stuttering, bow-legged Italian, you should be proud of where you came from. If you'd like to find out about your ancestors just Click Here .
Mr. Carty's ancestors were probably a very loving, Gaelic bunch. My last name, Hoffmann, has a little more history behind it. Hoffmann is a German/Jewish last name that was given to a farmer that owned his own land. It later evolved into a status name for a manager of a farm. The name evolved to become Jewish because many Jews held managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. My father is not currently a farm manager, but centuries ago I would have been working on a farm instead of working on this blog post. Another German surname is Drechsler. It is a varriant of Dressler which was a occupational name given to a turner (someone who makes small objects out of wood or other materials). The name Drechsler evolved into the standard German term for a wood turner. A nice Italian last name like Biasi goes back pretty far. It is a variant of the surname Biagi, which comes from the Latin, Blasius, which was a Roman family name, which was a byname for someone who had a speech or gait defect (from the Latin blaesus meaning 'stammering', or the Greek blaisos meaning 'bow-legged'). It is fun to learn where your family may have started out. Whether you are a loving Gaelic, a farm managing or wood turning German, or a stuttering, bow-legged Italian, you should be proud of where you came from. If you'd like to find out about your ancestors just Click Here .
I think " Whether you are a loving Gaelic, a farm managing or wood turning German, or a stuttering, bow-legged Italian, you should be proud of where you came from." is the best line in the post, although it has some competition. Learning the history of names, and the people with those names, is definitely interesting. I know I had minutes of fun with the site that you linked to.
ReplyDeleteUsing names of people that I know definitely made this post more interesting then it would have been otherwise. Thank you for this post.
A witty post, and even Justin had a whole "minute of fun" with your link.
ReplyDeleteAccording to ancestry.com, the last name Keller is "an occupational name for an executioner, from Old English cwellere.Irish: reduced form of Kelleher.Scottish: variant of Keillor." Why couldn't I have a macho last name like that?
I was just talking to my other class about last names -she asked why Ancient Greeks didn't have any (they just described their lineage). Your post reminds us that, long ago, nobody had a last name. I guess as local populations increased lineage or profession was used to differentiate one "Joe" from the next. In some cases, last names are derived from a person's home own. I wonder when last names became standardized.
Challenge: look it up (find a credible source), and respond.
This is from wikipedia, so it is quasi credible.
Delete"During the modern era, many cultures around the world adopted family names, particularly for administrative reasons, especially during the imperialistic age of European expansion and particularly since 1600. Notable examples include the Netherlands (1811), Japan (1870s), Thailand (1920), and Turkey (1934). Nonetheless, their use is not universal: Icelanders, Tibetans, Burmese, Javanese, and many people groups in East Africa do not use family names."
As you can see in some countries they are still not standard. It started to become a wide spread trend during the imperialistic age, where your last name was very important. It could make or break you depending on your family line. If you were related to the right people, you could be living the life of luxury.
MIA'S COMMENT:
ReplyDeleteIt's odd to think that something, such as our last name, is such a huge part of our identity now, and it is based off of the status of our ancestors that lived so long ago. No where in our introduction of our names to new friends do we ever associate our great great great great great grandfather working on a farm or bending iron. I'm definatly going to check out that link now.
We don't really give a second thought to our names. They're picked out for us and we accept them without further question. It's not everyday that we look up the history that is associated with our identity. So I looked it up and found out the Burley's has a "Great Migration" from England to Ireland. The family crests are pretty interesting as well. But, the name still comes from when they "lived in the fort by the wood" and "peasant". If that's not a self esteem boost, then I don't know what it. Thanks so much Erica for the post.
ReplyDelete