I got a ping on my phone from my dad’s cousin: “I was going through some family papers and came across these....”
He included scans of the court documents that changed my dad’s family’s name to Wallens. Even though they were all born in Brooklyn, that side of the family decided to “American-ize” the name after World War II.
I knew the story but cool to see it in black and white.
Mine started in Chinese then syllables were added to make it sound Thai when gramps fled the communists.
Problem is it doesn't really sound Thai.
Son of Lars.
Doesn't really get any more scandanavian than that.
My great grandfather was from Ireland and his name was Nicholas James Dixon. My grandfather was Nicholas James Dixon. My father is Nicholas James Dixon. I am Nicholas James Dixon.
So my family came from Palermo Sicily a few generations back. The church in Sicily that has my family's baptism records shows the name as Ferdinando but when arriving in the states it was changed to DiFerdinando with my grandfather being the first born here. DiFerdinando loosely translates to The Son of Ferdinando. Side note even tho my family originated in Italy the name is French. Adding an O to Ferdinand was the Italian spin on getting conquered by the French and having to take their names.
Scottish highlands, the first of my family to come to the new world was a Scottish sailing Captain. One of the versions of the origin is that it evolved from a Norse name, so Viking if you go back far enough.
Orr Family History
Orr Name Meaning
English: from an unrecorded Middle English personal name Orre (Old Norse Orri originally a byname meaning ‘black grouse’). Scottish (southwestern): nickname from Scottish Gaelic odhar ‘dun of sallow complexion’. This surname is also common in Ireland. It was brought to Ulster from Scotland in the 17th century.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
I'm half McTavish and half Tanner. The latter isn't too hard to figure out, someone in my past had a specific job.
McTavish has quite the history and interestingly the clan has a strong tie to Canada, but it's basically the Gaelic version of Thompson. And my dad's name was Thomas. So that worked out.
I'm a berry picker (I think 'berry-er' is a more literal translation).
Most of my family showed up in the US from Slovenia in the 1910s; however I still have cousins who live in the same village my paternal great grandparents are from.
Their dad was a partisan in WW2, and the garage used to have a row of Fiat/Zastava drivetrains ready to swap out and rebuild to keep the family car going.
Mother's maiden name was Claycomb. It was a misspelling of Kleekam, which loosely translates from German to "Cloverfield." Klee is clover, and Kam is "a high meadow," like a field at a higher elevation. Like the field where Maria Von Trapp sings "The sound of music" in the movie.
My name, Mittong, is also German. It was originally Mittank which very loosely translates as "Thankful."
Both modifications of the names are thought to have happened at Ellis Island. In the case of my mom's ancestors, we're not sure why as they were all literate and could have written or spelled their name. In the case of my dad's ancestors, we know it was because they were illiterate, so they probably said their name and that's how the immigration person wrote it down.
Fun fact, I'm the last Mittong, and I ain't having kids. About 5 generations ago, there were some adopted children into the Mittongs (whom I haven't met) so while I consider them "true" Mittongs, they're not genetic decendants of the same ancestors as I.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I've been to the Talbot/McTavish tract outside London, ONT. Had friends who lived just down the road. Makes me wonder if we met when we were kids and didn't know it. We've crossed a lot of each others' paths.
The story I like to tell is that my Dad hated my nickname from the AF because he felt it was disparaging to our last name of Stamps. If someone called me Stampie you could just see it in his eyes. When LiL Stampie was about 2 my Dad came down to visit. He handed me a folder and said that my Aunt Barbra had researched the family history. Later that day I looked at it and followed what I knew like we were from NE GA generations ago but an ancestor had testified at trial against some locals who had killed Union soldiers during reconstruction so the family moved over to SC. I followed back a few more generations and saw that the family name had changed. It used to be Stampie. Yep. I looked at my Dad and said did you see this? He just said yes and never mentioned a thing about my nickname again.
Ironically I just contacted my dads cousin and he's done a ton of research and it goes back to Italy 10 generations. It's been changed and I now have the full story.
I have family near Naples, Italy we may visit this spring.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Well, the first part is because I live in Indianapolis (commonly referred to as Indy), the second part is because I'm a male.
I have little to no history on my father's side. He was an only child of parents who both passed before he graduated high school. Then, he passed when I was just 6. I do feel confident it is representative of "country of origin" but I wonder if there was a harder to say/spell name of the Welsh language that got dropped at Ellis. Have you ever seen the Welsh language? It's god awful difficult.
Mother's maiden name was Merchant. We have record of it being Merchand, true to it's French heritage. French Canadian, Nova Scotia actually. Somewhere along the line the name was Americanized which was a popular activity of the time. There were many reasons people changed or it was changed for them but one actually was pride in their new-found American-ism.
On my grandfather's side they were mariners...Merchant Ships. In the little bit I know of the story, of the 5 boys a few died at sea and my lineage arrived to Boston in a great storm and never went back out again. Later ran logging ships that went from the forests of Northern Michigan to Chicago via Lake Michigan.
I am the product of older parents who had older parents (and I am an older parent.) My maternal grandparents were both born in 1899 on the shores of Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan. Grandmother born in Boyne City, MI and Grandfather at the other end of the lake in East Jordan, MI
Little King if you spell it a certain way. King if you spell it another way.
Size.... all that is to life I suppose.
Funny thing, I don't have a common last name like Smith or Jones. But I live across the street from an historic cemetery, and there's a guy buried right in front with the same last name as me. Big important stone. Impressive. Died in the 19th centuary. And a couple hundred yards north of our house is a street named for me. Or him. My grandfather was a firefighter in town in the last century. I think there's a connection somehow, but I just haven't investigated. I should.
In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :
Small world - my father got out in in 61, but the rest of his family is still there. The name goes back to a village now in the Alto Adige in Italy; apparently three brothers left in the mid-19th Century when it changed hands and they preferred the Hapsburgs as their sovereigns, but the cemetery there is full of my progenitors.
A great uncle on my mother's side traced their (English) family name back to the Norman invasion in 1066. Apparently there's a castle ruin, though I haven't been.
Slaver in Virginia
In reply to NickD :
I am George Anthony Wilford Jr, but I am George A Wilford the 5th or 6th.
Great-something-grandfather Benjamin Wilford came over from England under an indenture arrangement in 1812. I actually have his original contract certificate framed upstairs.
I can only assume that someone back in Old Blighty was named William and owned a river ford.
I found my Great Grandfather's entry at Ellis Island (running from Mussolini). Surname has stayed the same for hundreds of years, back through Italy and before that Portugal. We are directly related to the famous Port maker there.
As to the original moniker, likely we had mottled skin. I'm still a pretty freckled fella.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I've been to the Talbot/McTavish tract outside London, ONT. Had friends who lived just down the road. Makes me wonder if we met when we were kids and didn't know it. We've crossed a lot of each others' paths.
Oh wow. We used to just call it "the bush" :) It was part of the family farm. My mom and her siblings were the ones that donated it to the land trust. It would not surprise me if we did meet back in the day, but I would have been surrounded by a dozen or more cousins :)
My surname comes from the anglicized version of "son of the servant of St Fillan" or " Mac Gille Fhialain". They left either the Rough Bounds, Eigg or South Uist (haven't been able to pin down exactly where they lived, but have visted all three) in early 19th century and landed in Antigonish. Most of the family stayed there, but my grandfather decided to head west.
As for my given name, that's from both sides of the family, though there were more with the same name on my paternal side.
Welsh word for "the place of many streams".
My first ancestor on that side of the family to come to the new world arrived in Baltimore in the late 1780s or early 1790s. Family has migrated throughout the Southeastern US since then. There is supposed to be a county in NC where about half the population has my last name.
My last name came from England way back in the 1700's. My Great (too many greats to type) Grandfather was a Sherrif in England and moved to The New World. Owned an island near Martha's Vineyard. I have never found it on GoogleMap. Most likley change name of the island. One of my Grand Mothers on my Dad's side maiden name was Comstock. As in the Comstock Load. There is a county in Iowa that is from my Mom's family. Where my Grandpa was born.
Wellwood.
The original farm outside Dunfermline Scotland had a tree growing out of a well.
Nuts on the family tree?
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