My father chose his last name when he was a teenager or young adult.
Ed
Was that as part of some cultural process? If so, I’d be interested to hear more (such as where he’s from, etc.)
Pls. fight my ignorance – what is this a patronymic for?
For what ever it might be worth, I’m told that my family name is a mediaeval Dutch phrase that means next to the grave yard or next to the cemetery wall. I guess my people in some obscure Lowland village lived on the unfashionable side of the local church. It doesn’t help that there are half a dozen variants on the name, the consequence if 18th century illiteracy in William Penn’s colony.
A friend from college claims that the family name was awarded not at Ellis Island but at the immigration station in Galveston, TX, when his people immigrated after on of the Tzar’s pogroms. The old world name apparently was unpronounceable and the name awarded was Shaggy Ass, from (he claimed) shaggy ass Jew. The family shortened it and cleaned it up some but the root was still discernible.
For years I thought the name McClusky must be some kind of joke – its got a Scottish beginningh and a Polish ending. But I can find lots of McClusky’s on the Internet. I also find a lot of names of the form O’-------ski, which seems to pair an Irish beginning with a Polish ending.
What’s the story behind these chimeric surnames? Is there some kind of Gaelic “-ski” ending that’s confusing me by looking Polish?
Adkins, Atkins, Atkinson, Aiken, Eakins = descendant of Adam.
“-kin” was a common way of forming a diminutive and it became a patronymic, often with an added “-s” or or “-son.” The ending also became “-kiss,” “-kes,” or “-ks.”
Hopkins, Hopkiss, Hopkinson (descendant of Robert)
Dickens, Dickinson (descendant of Richard)
Hawkins, Hawkes (descendant of Hawk)
Jenkins, Jenks, Hanks, Anke (descendant of John)
Watkins (descendant of Walter)
Perkes, Purkiss (descendant of Peter)
Dawkes, Dawkins (descendant of David)
Jukes, Judkins (descendant of Iudicael)
Hodgkin, Hodgkins, Hodgkinson, Hodgkiss, Hodkinson, Hotchkin, Hotchkiss = descendant of Roger
Perkins = Peter
Thompkins = Thomas
Wilkins = Wiliam
McCluskey, McClusky, McCloskey, McClosky, McCluskie, McLusky, and McLuskie are from Gaelic mac Bhloscaidhe.
Considering the impression I get that liasons between slaveowner and female slave were quite common prior to emancipation, and that the last names of former slaves took on those of the slaveowner, you might still be able to explore your possible patrilineal lineage
Trying to put myself in your shoes, it would be interesting to find out if the science of genetics could establish a link between you and someone who is white with the same last name.
Not true at all…I once knew a family named Blue. And I’ve heard of a last name Purple as well…oddly enough, I came across that name while researching my own family history.
Interesting! Thanks for the info.
An Irish surname reference says,
One of the secretaries here at work has the last name “Blue”.
I know a girl who is an actress, she changed her last name to “Purple” (it’s a whole motif, she’s got a purple car, wears a lot of purple, etc). So that answers two questions right there - yes somebody has that as their last name and we can identify exactly when it happened.
Could the surname “Rudd” be related to “Red” (as in a “ruddy” complexion, etc)? For example AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd.
I don’t want to get into details, but his original last name marked him as being part of a minority that was heavily discriminated against, so he changed it into a name that was of the majority ethnic group. This was not in the United States.
Ed
Oh yes, as a further thought: This was not a common practice in his country of origin. It was an idea he thought of on his own, to reduce the prejudice he was facing because of his name.
Ed
Are you embarassed by your ethnic background? Your vagueness is puzzling.
Yes, it is.
No, not at all. I just don’t like giving personal details out over the Internet.
Ed
You…you’re a decendant of Moses?