Isn’t “Ross” one of those Western European names commonly adopted by Ashkenazim in the USA trying to sound less “ethnic”?
My last name literally means “From the Clay Town” so if you think caliche and clay are pretty much the same thing, then it fits.
My partner’s name is incredibly unusual. Only certain Mayan descendants in Central America have it. One of the translations I’ve heard of it is “Leprosy.” I’m rather glad she doesn’t have that particular association with her name.
Snackwells?
None of the males in my family have been named Mickel (or Michael, for that matter) for at least a century, so I guess it’s not all that relevant.
My mother’s maiden name means “servant of the bishop”, which, since none of my family even goes to church, is also not relevant.
The Scottish clan to which I belong in a rather tenuous way means “son of the parson”. Again, not relevant.
Oh well!
Just looked up my maiden last name… “Meadow of the Hares”. Maybe if it was “Meadow of the Hair”, it might apply to me…
My last name means “herder of goats”. Tangentially appropriate, as Long Time First Time used to own goats, and I fed them on occasion. My mother’s maiden name means “in a pinch”, which I guess applies to everyone on occasion.
I’m one of the no association group. Google implies that Mr. Mad’s surname is a Ukranian place name, as is my first name. His German/English/French family has been here since the Revolution, my given name was an attempt, by my Irish/English parents, to spell a common name creatively :rolleyes:
My maiden name is my father’s paternal STEP fathers name, which was changed from who knows what when his father deserted the Civil War army.
I live in Montana, mom’s maiden name was “Snow” and that’s as close as I can get to meaningful.
Mine’s a Scottish name with a fairly literal (and not very exciting) geographic meaning, and it has absolutely no relation to my life whatsoever.
My father is a Turner by name and a turner by hobby. He does wood turning in his spare time (and now he’s president of the woodclub! That’s right, I am the President’s daughter). His title at work is Fitter and Machinist, I don’t know if there’s any difference between his job and one that would be described as Fitter and Turner. Anyone?
Proof that our family still likes wood: various members of the family have been married to people with the surnames Wood, Greenwood and Woodyard. The Turner-Woodyard marriage in particular sounds like a match made in heaven.
My last name is a patronymic. As far back as I know, none of men in my family have used it as a first name. But my sister has married three (!) men with that name. 
Alas, I’ve never possessed a small meadow so I guess it’s not relevant.
I don’t know what my maiden surname or my maternal surnames mean, if anything. But my married name has no bearing any more. My husband is not the son of Rob, and neither is his father, so that one’s probably lost in the mists of time.
My last name was invented at Ellis Island. I live in New York … does that work? Okay, I guess not. It’s more like it was never relevant. I can’t decide whether to feel disappointed, or liberated by that.
My mother’s maiden name means “clerk or scholar” and I’m an educational administrator! That’s relevant, although not really because it’s not my last name.
Mr. Del’s last name is a patronymic, and none of his ancestors that we know of have it as a first name. I didn’t know what it meant until I googled it just now, and I was surprised by the first name that it refers to, so at least I learned something.
I feel like I’m failing this thread.
My last name is an occupational one, and though I’ve never pursued that occupation (my building skills are non-existent), my father, from whom I get the name, has. Many men in my father’s family have lived up to their last name. My mother’s maiden name is the plural form of a male first name, and I don’t think it has all that much meaning.
Little Debbie? Hostess?
Think potato chips.
For some reason, people think I like owl figurines and pictures.
I’d assume my surname means “Son of Nick” or something along those lines (I honestly have no clue what the meaning of the name is, so I could be completely off). I’m nobody’s son and my father isn’t Nick, so I’d say it isn’t relevant to me.
On the other hand, a few years back the meaning of my mother’s maiden name was tracked down (including the first person to use it). As it turns out, it refers to a town in western France. The man who adopted the name initially was from that town. In a way I suppose it is relevant because my ancestry goes back to the place, but I’ve never actually been there.
I neither cart nor smelt, so my various surnames are a wee bit misleading.
My married name means “cart maker”, but I don’t think any of his ancestors were in the auto business, at least not in this country. Now it just serves to make me the butt of jokes about Little Joe, Hoss and the gang back at the Ponderosa. :mad:
Robin
My maiden name meant “great” or “big” in Hungarian. Both my dad and I are big-boned Greeks (nevermind the last name). And I like to think that I’m pretty great ::blushes::.