Hi, per Jodi's suggestion, I've dipped into the ADRIAN archive and I must say I'm amazed at the variety of origins of this name. It must have sprung from several sources. Mine are from Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and a few towns along the Meurthe: Thiaville and Lachappele. For those with French maps, Baccarat is southeast of Nancy. in the Alsace Lorraine area of France, bordering Germany. If my name has a German origin, it would be prior to the line I know. The known direct line is 1. Francoise ADRIAN b. ca. 1810 m. Victoire BOYE b. 1809?, Bertrichamps? 2. Celestine ADRIAN b. 1841, Thiaville, m. 1861 Baccarat, d. 1918 Baccarat m. Hubert LAURENT b. 1839, Deneurve, d. 1905, Baccarat Celestine had several ADRIAN siblings, one of whom immigrated to NY 3. Marie Eugenie LAURENT b. 1862, Baccarat, imm ca. 1880 to NYC, d. 1943, Brooklyn m. ca 1884, Thomas COLLINS (1861-1909), Brooklyn, buried at Holy Cross, Brooklyn I also know of several LAURENT siblings, none of whom immigrated #3, Eugenie LAURENT COLLINS, was my great-grandmother. Her father and some of her ADRIAN and LAURENT uncles worked at the crystalery in Baccarat. At 18, she immigrated to NYC and then married and moved to Brooklyn. She did not have a great number of descendants, but all are known to me and most have remained...er...45 minutes from Broadway. I've also done some cursory research on her uncle Edouard ADRIAN (1838-1916), after I found his obituary among her papers. The young Edouard was a "taileur" at the Baccarat crystalery and immigrated in 1874 with his wife and children (nine, I believe) to Woodhaven, Queens, NY. Woodhaven was home to an enclave of French immigrants, drawn to work at the Grosjean Company, a tinware factory built during the 1850s by another French immigrant. Edouard and his wife died in 1916 and 1917, and are buried at Evergreen Cemetery. They were survived by only two children, of the original nine, Josephine GLESSING and a Mrs E. COOK. Mrs GLESSING had seven children, four of whom were still alive in 1910. The ADRIANS also had a son named Simon, but I only know of his birth in Baccarat. Well, that's it. I'll be amazed if there are any connections, but I wanted to try. Thanks to Jodi for creating this list! Patty Fagan (Boston) [email protected]