12
votes
Accepted
What might 'i' separating parts of someone's name mean?
Tentatively, those names do look rather Spanish, but that need not mean much. However, Wikipedia's page on Spanish naming conventions notes that:
Currently in Spain, people bear a single or ...
- 4,427
10
votes
Is there such a thing as Ashkenazi Jewish surnames?
Ashkenazi Surnames really only came about in the early 1800s actually. The Jews of Western Europe (Germany, France, and England etc) took surnames sooner than their coreligionists in Eastern Europe. ...
- 161
9
votes
Spelling Polish name pronounced Ko lo jay?
If polish spelling rules are applied to "Ko lo jay" it'd look like Kolodżej.
However, Kołodziej is more likely to be your answer as it is a real polish family name but it is NOT pronuced "Ko lo". But ...
- 1,407
8
votes
Accepted
Benefits of joining the Guild of One-Name Studies?
I have been a member of the Guild for ten years and have benefited hugely from my membership. These are what I see as some of the main benefits.
You get a free profile page on the Guild website where ...
- 231
8
votes
Seeking informational resources on “Robinson” family name origin?
As it is a patronymically derived name ..."Robin's son", the likelihood of there being any single attributable geographic origin is very unlikely.
Surname distribution maps derived from census ...
- 1,356
8
votes
What kind of name is Awakum?
Avvakum (Lat.: Abacuc, Ukr.: Аввакум, Grk.: Αμβακουμ) is a biblical name derived from the name of prophet Habakuk (ca. 612 BC).
Also a notable person, protopope Avvakum Petrov (...
7
votes
Original Spelling(s) of Polish surname anglicized as Shemynski?
It could be 'Szemiński' (that's male form, female would be 'Szemińska') but that's quite an approximate guess.
Things to consider is that 19th Century Warsaw had at different times, Prussian, Polish, ...
- 743
7
votes
Benefits of joining the Guild of One-Name Studies?
I am sure there are lots of benefits to being a member of any society and there are sometimes various options. For example, Somerset & Dorset FHS exists, as do the separate county FHS groups.
As ...
- 71
7
votes
What might 'i' separating parts of someone's name mean?
"i" means "and". They both were Catalan. Nowadays in Catalunya we still use both family names but only a few still use the conjunction "i" between them.
Becouse of globalization it starts to be common ...
- 71
7
votes
Accepted
Family name which sounds like сипа?
Version 1, derived from сипати
I found a linguistics professor in an Ukrainian university whose name is Liliya Sypa (Ukr: Сипа), and she helped to reveal the etymology of her name.
The main version ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is there such a thing as Ashkenazi Jewish surnames?
I am not an expert, but am adding my humble bits to the answer:
There is no such thing as a jewish surname, indeed.
First of all a surname itself is not a jewish thing. Jews are not indetified by ...
- 429
7
votes
Correct spelling of Austrian surname Wasmanski?
There is no correct spelling of your surname.
Sure, there is now. It's Wasmanski. Unless one of your modern-day relatives spell it differently, and they might.
It is possible your current spelling ...
- 2,436
7
votes
Accepted
Conflicting names of ancestor's parents from different records?
I suggest you obtain a copy of Winifred's birth certificate. It can be ordered from the GRO website.
In the New GRO index, here is her entry:
As you can see, the Mother's maiden surname is given as ...
- 18.7k
6
votes
What might 'i' separating parts of someone's name mean?
Other answers have already confirmed that those are clearly Catalan surnames, although they are not very common - in fact, surnames of Catalan origin are very diverse, so they tend to be rare. I can ...
- 161
6
votes
Proper way to record mother's maiden name in Gramps 5?
I'm a new Gramps user and had this same question. After much searching I concluded that the best way is to add multiple names under the 'Names' tab:
Unfortunately this requires retyping the given ...
- 161
5
votes
Name Changes in New York City during 1830s?
For an overview and timeline for New York Law, see the New York State Archives' research guide Naturalization and Related Records: Records of Name Changes.
If you're looking for a formal legal ...
- 25.4k
5
votes
Spelling of Original Hungarian or Czechoslovakian surname?
The sounds [polɑvt͡ʃɛk] would be written Polavcsek in modern Hungarian; [pɑlovt͡ʃɛk] would be Palovcsek. However, surnames often preserve archaic spellings, and in any case nobody paid much attention ...
- 1,069
5
votes
If widow remarries, do English records ca 1820 show maiden name?
So far as I remember in my data, it's always her current name prior to the marriage about to take place. NB I haven't constructed a query to check this out but that's how it seems to go. I definitely ...
- 11.5k
5
votes
How Piasecki was spelled originally?
This is a common question for beginning genealogists. However, the emphasis on the correct spelling of a name is a relatively recent phenomenon. Even if you could determine a preferential spelling for ...
- 25.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Checking if surname is common in Czech Republic?
I'm Czech so I could help, although you did not mention the name. Anyway, here are some sites I use for this purpose. They allow you to search surnames ("příjmení" in czech), and will show ...
- 166
5
votes
Using née to indicate more than one previous surname for same person?
I do not think the term née should ever be used twice in the manner you described in your question.
For someone born to a Brown family, who later married a Green, then a Smith, then a Jones, I would ...
- 11.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Creating a list of surnames from a specific municipality in Germany (Baden)?
This is not a direct answer to the question, rather a different approach to (I think) meet the same end.
The problem with using a list of current day surnames for this purpose is that there are ...
- 18.7k
4
votes
Accepted
How to interpret hand written will that refers to children and possibly in-laws?
... divided between my children viz Martha Entermarried with Henry
Rhinehart, My Son John, Elizabeth Entermarried with William
Stevenson, Henry B. Fought, Isaac S. Fought, William E. Fought, ...
- 18.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Age of surnames in German region?
The GenWiki page "Familienname" (in German) is an overview of the history and origins of German surnames. Most German surnames came into use during the 14th to 16th centuries, and are derived from ...
- 7,946
4
votes
What does a phrase like "dit St Pierre" mean, when it follows a surname?
The French dit identifier is identifying something or referring to something about the person or person's family. It is not a conveyance such as de or du. It is not an alias, nickname or last name ...
4
votes
Alternative spellings of Polish surname Swider?
If Andrew had emigrated from Poland, then his original surname quite probably was "Świder".
By simply dropping diacritics we get "Swider".
Someone who would care for phonetics, could make "Shwider" ...
- 141
4
votes
Finding original spelling of Polish name Vazuka which was anglicized on arrival to US?
There is no simple way to determine the original name with any accuracy from the information you have supplied. This is partly because there would have been no single event, such as an arrival, during ...
- 1,366
4
votes
Accepted
What Romanian surnames sound similar to Cashol?
I don't personally have experience researching in this area, but a very good friend of mine was raised in Romania. She says that they don't use Cyrillic in Romania and wondered if you were thinking ...
4
votes
What is the meaning and origins of the family name, Majersdorf?
Majersdorf is a compound word,
Majers + dorf
The "Meier" (see Meier for all its spelling variations)
was a functionary (an overseer or steward) in the household of a higher status individual. ...
- 7,946
4
votes
Combining maiden name, birth and death dates in parentheses
What you do comes down to personal preference but I think it would be better to write your sentence like this:
John Smith was the son of Robert (1702-1758) and Jane (née Baker; 1705-1750) Smith.
...
- 11.1k
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