# Where is my DNA from??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926 "2000-11-20T04:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/1 "2000-11-20T04:04:31Z")
Are there any family tree trackers (what do you call them, geneologists?) out there that might be able to tell me the origin of the surname “Nenno”. What the hell kind of name is that anyway?? I have no idea!! I am hoping the first Nennos were not Italian pig farmers or something, but I would like to know either way. Most people seem to believe it is an Italian name. That would explain why I am so damn hairy! As a matter of fact, The Sons of Italy organization sent me a letter asking me to contribute some money and I think even join up. I threw it away but I kept the nice address labels they sent! I have no idea where they got my name from or why/how they think I am Italian… Anyone know anything about **Nenno**? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/2 "2000-11-20T04:28:43Z")
Well, I can probably take you back about 25,000 years and suggest you belong to one of 10 groups…[DNA](http://www.sciam.com/news/111300/3.html) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/3 "2000-11-20T04:36:27Z")
And, I forgot to add, that you have the 35,124th most popular surname in the US, from [here](http://www.placesnamed.com/n/e/nenno.asp). And they named a town in Wisconsin after you. ---
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/4 "2000-11-20T04:38:03Z")
For a pretty penny [http://www.heritage-arts.co.uk/](http://www.heritage-arts.co.uk/) claims to have the answer. Don’t know if I’d plunk down the money for something that (despite their “guarantee”) is probably as accurate as turning to a random page in an encyclopedia, pointing to the first name you see and saying “I’m related to him (or her).” Not to be cynical or anything. Keep in mind too that your name actaully revels very little about your history. A better place to start might be parents or grandparents if possible. Florida Dept of Vital Statistics might be able to provide two or three generations of history (not real far back though). You may not be able to trace back your name to it’s first use, but you may find out a great deal in looking. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/5 "2000-11-20T06:55:33Z")
I can’t find any online resources, but even small libraries ought to have a book along the lines of [A Dictionary of Surnames](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0192115928/o/qid=974703098/sr=8-2/ref=aps_sr_b_1_4/107-7843824-4974944). If your library uses the LOC cataloging system, you should find it in the vicinity of CS2385. If it uses the Dewey decimal system, it should be somwhere in the vicinity of 929. It is most likely to be in the reference section, but may be in the circulating collection. It was in a book like that I first read that my last name is Polish, not German as we had always believed. I have since verified the fact that it’s Polish. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/6 "2000-11-20T07:03:03Z")
Wow. My last name is the 48,716th most popular last name in the United States. Hmmm… I’m thinking of an idea for an MPSIMS thread. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/7 "2000-11-20T07:11:17Z")
I found a genealogical site that discusses a **Nenno** family that seems to have come from Saarland, in Germany (along the French boundary). [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gentner/index\_N.html#Nenno](http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gentner/index_N.html#Nenno) There is also a **Di Nenno** family in at least one town near the Adriatic coast of Italy. See [http://www.abruzzo2000.com/genealogy/surnames/ch/crecchio.htm](http://www.abruzzo2000.com/genealogy/surnames/ch/crecchio.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/8 "2000-11-20T08:32:59Z")
[http://www.surnameweb.org/registry/n/e/n/nenno.shtml](http://www.surnameweb.org/registry/n/e/n/nenno.shtml) I think they want you to cough up for this info. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/9 "2000-11-20T08:40:53Z")
Forget that above link; it’s crap. [this one](http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gentner/index_N.html#Nenno) will take you farther. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-my-dna-from/41926/10 "2000-11-20T22:19:00Z")
Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to find that stuff!!!