) ( ) Good Morning Family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new Bower/Bauer/Baur, etc. cousins 2. Can you guess?... If you've been with the family [the BOWER-L list] for at least three weeks, you'll probably want to skip the following paragraphÂ… TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s]/Bau[e]r/Bro[u]wer lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bau[e]r/Bro[u]wer lines or any of the 81+ variant spellings that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowerhomestead>, or you can use our shortcut URL of <http://embark.to/Homestead>." We also have a newly opened sister site, the Bower Cottage, that we've begun to fill. There are currently only a few names there, but give us time... :) The Cottage is at <http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowercottage>, or you can use the shortcut URL of <http://embark.to/bowercottage>. CAN YOU GUESS?... So, you can't find your Bower[s]/Bau[e]r/Bro[u]wer lines, huh? Well, after nearly 25 years, neither can I! But I understand the odds of locating that elusive ancestor even less since I discovered that ~~ (hang on to your socks!) >From a database of over 100 million surnames in the U.S., of the top 100,000 most common surnames ~~ The Bowers name places at #473. It is more common than 65% of American names. Bauer places at #700. It is more common than 61% of American names. Bower places at #1383. It is more common than 53% of American names. Brower places at #2247. It is more common than 47% of American names. Baur places at #9060. It is more common than 30% of American names. Brouwer places at #14678. It is more common than 25% of American names. If these names are so common, how come it's taking me so long to locate those ancestors? THAT'S IT!! I'm now firmly convinced that my lines evolved from the moss under a rock on the southwest side of a tree in some primeval forest!! I have no doubt about it anymore! VBG Just to have fun (and mess with your minds a little), can you tell me the ten most common surnames (in order please) in the U.S.? As a help, here are a few that don't make it into the top ten: #11 ... Anderson #36 ... Adams #13 ... Jackson #56 ... Cook #15 ... Harris #149 .. Black #35 ... Green #2117 . Doe Send me your top 10 surnames privately. Let's see how well you all do! I'll report the results in next week's Coffee. Family... it's what we're all about. I really enjoyed this time with you. It was so nice. I hope you all have a fantastic next two weeks. I wish you all a week filled with health, fun, productivity, and above all, filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'