Welcome to the July 18, 2007 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for this edition is Surnames. How much do you know about your family name? All the contributors to this edition of the COG have taken a good look at their surnames and will now share them with you. This was a very popular topic and there were lots of articles submitted. So pour yourself a tall glass of iced tea, put on some smooth jazz, and enjoy the ride!
Blaine Bettinger starts us off with A Lonely Surname posted at The Genetic Genealogist. Blaine always writes the most interesting articles, giving a scientific slant to genealogy. Here he tells a tale of his lonely surname and his diminishing family Y-DNA. Thanks for sharing, Blaine! Great food for thought!
Next, Cheryl Schulte presents The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part One, "Heimat Butow" and The Family Kolberg/Colberg, Part Two, "The Search for Friedrich-Wilhelm, Jr." posted at Two Sides of the Ocean. In Part One, Cheryl takes us on her Kreis search and in Part Two she shares a wonderful collection of old photos taken in Germany in hopes that someone will recognize these folks and identify them for her. Good luck Cheryl and thanks for sharing your research experience with us!
And next, Randy Seaver tells us about the Seaver surname in Genea-Musings: Seaver Surname - Origin, Meaning, Crest, Famous People, Localities posted at Genea-Musings. Randy is the master of covering all the bases (must be from all those Padres games he goes to ;-) . Here he gives a nice overview of all the possible/likely ethnic sources for the Seaver surname complete with the varied meanings, spellings, and notables. Thanks for another great article Randy!
Becky Wiseman shares with us, The Phend Surname posted at kinexxions. Check this one out. It wasn't pronounced the way you'd think. Here's a great family surname analysis complete with old handwriting samples. Great post Becky! Thanks for sharing!
Terry Thornton presents What's in a name? posted at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi, saying, "What does the surname THORNTON mean? And what does my given name mean? A look at some of the meanings assigned to the word THORNTON --- and a look at some of the famous Thorntons from history none of whom are kin folk. Maybe it is time to grow some "new" limbs on my family tree and make me some rich and famous kin." Terry's article starts with Shakespeare and ends with A.E. Housman and most of what's in between is pure hilarity. Smurffs, toffee, Billy Bob, and Chief Buttahatchie... he covers it all in his own unique way. What a great article Terry, thanks so much for providing our comedy relief! (2 bonus points for showing the Thornton coats of arms ;-)
And the giggles just continue... Janice Brown presents New Hampshire Genealogy: Surname LNU posted at Cow Hampshire, saying, "I'm sure every genealogist has the LNU surname in their family tree :D" I've got 10+ years of genealogy research behind me but never came across the LNU family before. And here I find it's such a common surname! You'll enjoy this article. Pay particular attention to Janice's personally designed coat of arms, it's very apropos! Thanks for sharing the fun, Janice. (Oh, and you get 5 bonus points since you personally designed your coat of arms ;-)
On a more serious note, Christina Geyer shares with us three posts, Surname Research on Ancestry.de , Places named Geyer , and Surname Breakthrough: Bear / Behr / Baehr posted at Shaking the Tree. One of the great things about the Internet is how it allows people the world over to connect. Christina writes to us from Germany and shows us the surname distribution feature from the Ancestry.de (the German version) site. Very cool. Then she takes us on vacation with her and visits a couple of Geyer spots in Germany. (7.5 bonus points for the double coat of arms on the Postdistanzsäule... very, very cool!) And finally Christina shares with us her Bear hunt (for ancestors ;-) Thanks once again for contributing to the COG Christina!
Next, Craig Manson presents My Unusual Surnames: Brayboy posted at GeneaBlogie. Craig has written about his Brayboy ancestors before and each time I read those posts I wondered... what sort of name is Brayboy? And now I have my answer. And you will too when you read Craig's article! Thanks for sharing, Craig!
Bill West's article THE ELUSIVE JOHN C. posted at West in New England addresses yet another of my wonderings... who's the guy in the picture on Bill's blog? All is revealed by Bill in this post. Don't miss it! Thanks for contributing, Bill!
Next, John Newmark presents Dudelsack posted at TransylvanianDutch. You have to see it to understand it. Good thing John has picture. An interesting surname with understandably comical misspellings. Thanks for sharing your article, John! I really enjoyed it!
Lori presents What's in a Name? posted at Smoky Mountain Family Historian. Lori contributes her knowledge on a couple of her family surnames. Both are interesting, check them out. I had to Google Walter Lantz to find out more about Woody Woodpecker and Walter's honeymoon. See if you're not tempted too. Thanks, Lori!
Apple shares Nardozzi Genealogy posted at Apple's Tree. First not enough, then too many. Such is the plight of genealogists everywhere. Apple shares her brick wall with us. Thanks for the contribution, Apple!
Next up, Ken Spangler presents The Spangler Surname, How Lovely! posted at Beyond Fiction. Ken has a substantial list of famous Spanglers... and now that his article is in the COG he can add his own name to the list of famous Spanglers. I hear by declare that any and all who contribute to the Carnival of Genealogy are officially famous!!! Thanks for contributing, Ken!
T.K. presents In Search of the Schulte Line, Part 1: Synergism in Research and In Search of the Schulte Line, Part 2: The Mystery of Meyer-Schulte posted at Before My Time. Here's the story we all wish we could write... cousins connect and work together to discover the family history. Then they become famous blogging about it for the COG ;-) ! Thanks for sharing this wonderful story, T.K.!
Tim Agazio presents Agazio or Aggazio, and Interesting Surname Origin Theory posted at Genealogy Reviews Online. Just one letter is different between the two names but it was enough to inspire Tim to tackle researching his family history. I can identify with this. I have a one-letter change in a surname in my family that has plagued me for years too. It's sort of like an itch... won't go away, won't let you ignore it. Tim found the truth (as did I) but not the why (neither have I). Thanks for sharing, Tim! I'm sure we aren't the only ones who are trying to scratch this itch ;-)
Next we have Chris Dunham presenting One Dunham Danced posted at The Genealogue. Chris never disappoints when it comes to the unusual and bizarre. In this article he introduces us to a host of colorful individuals who've worn the Dunham surname. Some are simply famous, one is shall we say, notorious? Great post, Chris! Thanks for sharing!
Jasia presents LIPA... Healing, Calming, Sweetening, Sacred posted at Creative Gene. I've actually done a bit of research into the meanings of a good many of the surnames on my tree as this is a special interest of mine. I would have liked to have written several more posts but time did not allow. You'll likely see more from me on this topic in future posts.
Up next, Steve Danko shares with us The Polish Surnames in My Family Tree posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog. Now this is a surname list to be proud of! Those of you who can't claim Polish ethnicity will no doubt be green with envy when you read Steve's list of beautiful consonant-laden and multiple-vowelled surnames. It warms my heart to see these names, I have an equally beautiful list of these babies myself. Steve has done a nice of job of including the meanings of his surnames... already translated for you to enjoy! Thanks Steve!!
Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors: Origins of Our Surnames posted at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors, saying, "A list of the surnames in my husband's and my families, along with their ethnicities and meanings." Miriam certainly has a respectable list of surnames in her article (you can tell she's not Polish though ;-) She and her husband obviously have diverse backgrounds and a number of countries are represented on their family trees. Thanks for sharing, Miriam!
footnoteMaven presents What's In A Name? posted at footnoteMaven. If you haven't gotten any insight into your own surname yet, check out this article... its probably explained here. As usual... well researched, well written, much appreciated, Maven! And as a bonus, The Campbells Are Coming!, a look at the clan Campbell of Scotland.
And that concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. Now we have a Call For Submissions! The topic for the 29th Edition of the COG will be: Moral or legal dilemmas in genealogy and genea-blogging, which ones have you had to deal with and how did you resolve them, if you did? The next edition of the COG will be hosted by footnoteMaven on the footnoteMaven blog. The deadline for submissions will be August 1st.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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