# Surname help **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467 "2000-01-02T22:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/1 "2000-01-02T22:50:00Z")
Quick question for US-based SDMBers…I have a fairly unique surname (Kilcast). My family did a little genealogical digging (through a professional agency) and came up with a grand total of about five (count 'em) remaining individuals in the world (well, the UK and Eire definitely, the ‘Western’ world based on phonebooks). These five consist of my immediate family, including myself. Since then I’ve come across only two others (both UK, both ‘long-lost cousins’). We’ve traced the name back to a tiny village in the south-east of Eire in the 1800s and no further, and whilst abroad I’ve had no luck tracing it in Australia or various parts of Europe. I’m not really manic about this, but if anyone out there is interested in this kind of thing, can you recommend any easy-to-use, free resources? There seem to be a million-and-one websites offering family trees, and I don’t have time for trying every single one. Ta. * * * I never touched him, ref, honest! ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/2 "2000-01-03T01:53:00Z")
Have you tried the Mormon genaeology site/s? I hear they are quite thorough, although only as good as their sources (hence the old milk-man-father problems, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/3 "2000-01-03T02:26:00Z")
Nobody tracks down this sort of thing better than the Irish. Get your hands on a County Cork directory (probably available on-line) and write one of the many genealogical services listed there. Shouldn’t cost more than $100 (75 Irish pounds). ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/4 "2000-01-03T03:56:00Z")
Three sites: [www.ancestry.com](http://www.ancestry.com)[www.familtytreemaker.com](http://www.familtytreemaker.com)[www.cyndislist.com](http://www.cyndislist.com) You’ll get searches that cover most of the web and get a good feel for anyone else that may be researching your name. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/5 "2000-01-03T04:11:00Z")
I traced my family tree on my mother’s side back to my great, great grandparents, who emmigrated from Sweden in the late 1800s and was fortunate to have found all of my missing relatives (of those still living) but one. I checked my usual geneology links and so far the best I could come up with for you was the following site: [http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm](http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm) Unfortunately, I keep getting an error message that says the connection timed out, so I don’t know if there’s anything helpful to you on that page or not. But I wanted to share it with you in case you can access it even though I can’t. The site I used to trace my family is [A Barrel of Geneology Links](http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/mark.html) , but as you said, there are hundreds of links there to search through. For a page that might give you a better place to start, try [http://www.genuki.org.uk/ (The UK and Ireland Geneology Home Page)](http://www.genuki.org.uk/) I hope some of this is helpful. Good luck 🙂 * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/6 "2000-01-03T04:15:00Z")
Grrrrrrr!!! Let me try that again. [http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm](http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm) [A Barrel of Geneology Links](http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/mark.html) I think the last link I posted works. _Sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/7 "2000-01-03T04:18:00Z")
Screw the UBB nonsense. I’m going back to basic HTML… [http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm](http://www.fst.reading.ac.uk/people/abirchg/kilcast.htm) [A Barrel of Geneology Links](http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/mark.html) And if that doesn’t work, I give up. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/8 "2000-01-03T12:47:00Z")
M.K., Ursa Major, OldBroad, Shayna, thanks. I’ll try some of those sites. * * * I never touched him, ref, honest! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/9 "2000-01-03T14:42:00Z")
My maiden name meant soup. But my now name means exactly what it says Hunter. Guess my ancestor in-laws were hunters. Now I need to marry a guy named Gatherer. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/10 "2000-01-03T15:32:00Z")
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I couldn’t help myself when I read this… > [@](#): > > But my now name means exactly what it says Hunter… Now I need to marry a guy named Gatherer. I had a friend in high school whose last name was Scissors. Her mother’s maiden name was Cutter. I always thought that was a funny coincidence. You may find your Gatherer yet 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/11 "2000-01-03T15:45:00Z")
or a guy whose last name is Down. Hunter-Down ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/12 "2000-01-04T06:47:00Z")
My sister knows a guy by the surname of Pepper. He will shortly be graduating from medical school as…Doctor Pepper. * * * I never touched him, ref, honest! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/13 "2000-01-04T06:49:00Z")
mattk :Does he wake at 7? 😉 7up ---
**Author:** ![Snark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Snark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-help/12467/14 "2000-01-04T07:01:00Z")
Mattk, you might want to try the LDS church’s genealogy site for further info: [http://www.familysearch.com/](http://www.familysearch.com/) Good luck!