# Share some surnames and let's see if we's kinfolk **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101 "2005-06-20T19:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/101 "2005-06-23T16:12:11Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Betcha we’re cousins someplace, even though I don’t come up with any commons. The De la O Millan is a funny one, are you sure it isn’t two (De la O and Millán)? I thought it looked odd myself, though I’m not really sure. My gut tells me it is 2 different names hyphenated somewhere and the gal that put our family tree together couldn’t find the connection. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/102 "2005-06-23T16:36:40Z")
Bradshaw: England, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas Proctor: England, Tennessee, Texas Guinn: West Virginia, Texas Beesley: Tennessee, Texas ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/103 "2005-06-23T17:24:55Z")
Nisbet \> came from Scotland, settled in Wisconsin Klein, Grosinske \> Germany, settled in Wisconsin Pine \> Britain, I think. Settled in NY Craig, Beach \> Britain, settled in NY Tilson \> Britain. Tilson, NY is named for this family. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/104 "2005-06-23T17:59:06Z")
> [@AnnaLucretia](#): > > Wow, how fun is this?! > … > I’m guessing we’re tied in several ways - all those people were pretty picky about who they married way back then. 😃 I’ll see if I can get the Roberts back to Brewster trail from my other cousin … ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/105 "2005-06-23T18:02:13Z")
On my father’s side: Hedge, Murphy, Wymore, Skaggs, and Junk. Wymore may be an English spelling of Weimar or Weigmar. Further back, Lehrer (German; left around 1745–the name was changed to Lair after a few generations), Moyer (also German), Mullenauer (German; I believe it was soon changed to Miller), Van Meteren (Dutch; changed to Van Meter), Dubois (French), McDonald, Duncan, Downing, and Letcher (Stephen Giles Letcher, a governor of Kentucky in the 19th century, was one of my ancestors.) On my Mother’s side: Wilson (left Glencourse Scotland around 1612 after they found out they were going to be arrested for being the wrong religion), Sharpe, McKinnon, Boring (yes, that was the real surname though it’s sometimes spelled Boren), Sheffield, Roberts, Prescott, Price, and McGovern. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/106 "2005-06-24T01:23:27Z")
Allison, Deason, Johnson, Keaton, Jackson, Beard, Keeton, Clark, Ragsdale, Joslin, Townley, Green, McKee, Cowan, Johnsey, Rutledge, Carter, Mellows, Staggs, Brown, Peacock, Easterling, all from my mother, most from the south, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia. Until I started doing geneology on a whim, I had no idea my mother’s ancestors were in the first colonies. My father’s ancestors were in Finland, where they just took as last names the farms they happened to be living at. Not nearly as easy to trace. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/107 "2005-06-24T14:35:56Z")
> [@Pixisis](#): > > William Brewster is my Great x12 Grandfather. What is your relation to him ? > (then we can figure out just what kind of cousins we are) > 😃 Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I’m also 12th generation Brewster line. My Gray line traces back to where they married into the Freeman, Godfrey, Sparrow and Prence lines, which are also related to Brewster. **pohjonen** : a small nitpick; it’s spelled ‘genealogy’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/108 "2005-06-24T15:00:01Z")
Rawlings, Gray and Sears for me. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/109 "2005-06-24T15:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I’m also 12th generation Brewster line. My Gray line traces back to where they married into the Freeman, Godfrey, Sparrow and Prence lines, which are also related to Brewster. [QUOTE] let’s see … i’m 14 generations out of Brewster, you’re 12 … ::lights flash, bells ring:: that means we’re 11th cousins twice removed ! 😃 Sparrow and Prence sound familiar, I think you might be a closer cousin than me to my 12th cousin once removed (also via Brewster) surnamed Roberts … ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/110 "2005-06-24T17:52:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Rawlings, Gray and Sears for me. Do you know if you are from the Grays of Massachusetts? If so, we may be related. My immigrant ancestor was John Gray of Scotland, who died in Yarmouth, Cape Cod in about 1674. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/111 "2005-06-24T19:22:14Z")
I hardly know any of mine: Mulligan, Pye, Harrowsmith, Hodkinson. I’m surprised there’s been no Mulligans mentioned (or their variants) seeing as it’s quite a common Irish name. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/112 "2005-06-24T20:01:40Z")
Off the top of my head, I can give the surnames of 7 of my great-grandparents: Dad’s Side **Ebert** - Philadelphia, PA. **Matlack** - England to NJ to Philadelphia. If you’re descended from **Col. Timothy Matlack** (of Declaration of Independence and National Treasure fame) then we’re related. **Varney** - Reading, PA, then Philadelphia **Saylor** - Possibly NH, then Reading Mom’s Side **Walker** - England, then Philadelphia (late 1800s) **Daniels** - Springfield, MA, then Philadelphia **Peacock** - Ireland (?), then Philadelphia My mother’s mother’s mother was a French Canadian named Georgine or Georgette (she married Frederick Daniels), but I don’t know her last name. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/113 "2005-06-24T20:08:18Z")
Trower, Twisselman (Twisselmann), Harvey, Sommer, and then there’s a name that I can’t recall at the moment, that pops up in the genealogies of both sides of my family :eek: I think it was Dowell… ---
**Author:** ![LilyValy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9a140/32.png) [@LilyValy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyValy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/114 "2005-06-24T20:55:28Z")
Catnoe…I think we may be cousins!!! I am also of the Hauser line. To my knowledge, we came from Alsace (Germany), settled in PA for a while then moved on to Indiana. I am also a Huff, May, Place, and Rowe all from Germany. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/115 "2005-06-25T01:21:58Z")
Heath - on my dad’s side. We don’t talk about ancestors much. On my mom’s side: Brohinsky(i) (Brahinsky(i), Narof(f) or Narov, and according to grandpa, Romanov (yes, those Romanov’s). An then there’s Hopp from Ohio. My maternal grandmother’s name was Bonnie Hopp 😃 . I almost feel bad for the bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/116 "2005-06-25T01:37:10Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Heath - on my dad’s side. We don’t talk about ancestors much. > > On my mom’s side: Brohinsky(i) (Brahinsky(i), Narof(f) or Narov, and according to grandpa, Romanov (yes, those Romanov’s). An then there’s Hopp from Ohio. My maternal grandmother’s name was Bonnie Hopp 😃 . I almost feel bad for the bitch. I’m not sure it’s possible to be descended from those Romanovs, since they were all murdered. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/117 "2005-06-25T01:42:46Z")
Wallis, Bohn, Vaughan (or Vaughn)… the German contingent. McLean, McLain… the Irish contingent. Newland… the I have not a clue contingent. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/118 "2005-06-25T01:44:09Z")
I also know a Lavoie, who has told me of the family reunions where very distant cousins meet up in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/119 "2005-06-25T01:59:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m not sure it’s possible to be descended from those Romanovs, since they were all murdered. Not all the Romanovs. There’s still a bunch of them bouncing around (Prince Paul Romanovsky, the ex-Major of Palm Beach, was a descendant of Czar Alexander II). \*\*congodwarf \*\*are you from a legitimate or an illegitimate line? ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101/120 "2005-06-25T02:16:31Z")
> [@LilyValy](#): > > Catnoe…I think we may be cousins!!! > I am also of the Hauser line. To my knowledge, we came from Alsace (Germany), settled in PA for a while then moved on to Indiana. > I am also a Huff, May, Place, and Rowe all from Germany. Hi Cousin! Family at last, figures it would be the Hausers, they are the best documented of my family. Two books at least on the genealogy. Always tracing the male line never the female’s descendants. I don’t have my book, loaned it to a cousin and then decided to let her keep it has I have no children to pass things on to. What part of Indiana? Bartholomew County perhaps? Salem? That’s where my Hausers and a lot of other family wound up before spreading out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-some-surnames-and-lets-see-if-wes-kinfolk/309101.md?page=7)