Lee, The reference to Kegel as meaning "bowling pin" reminded me of something I hadn't heard in a long time. When I was much younger, bowlers were sometimes referred to as "keglers." I didn't question it at the time but obviously this is where it originated. Jim Nix Le Roy A Cagle wrote: > > List: > > The first known people to acquire surnames were the Chinese. Legends > suggest that the Emperor Fushi decreed the use of surnames, or family > names about 2852 BC. The Chinese customarily have three names. The > surname is placed first and comes from one of the 438 words in the sacred > Chinese poem Po-Chia-Hsing. The family name is followed by a generation > name, taken from a poem of 30 characters adopted by each family. The > given name is then placed last. > > In early times, the Romans had only one name. However, they later > changed to using three names. The given name stood firs and was called a > "praenomen". This was followed by the "nomen" which designates the gens, > or clan. The last name designates the family and is known as the > "cognomen". Some Romans added a fourth name, the > "agonomen", to commemorate an illustrious action, or remarkable event. > As the Roman Empire began to decline, family names became confused and > single names once again became customary. > > The modern hereditary use of surnames was a practice that originated > among the Venetian aristocracy in Italy about the 10th or 11th Centuries. > Crusaders returning from the Holy Land took note of this custom and soon > spread its use throughout Europe. France, the British Isles, and then > Germany and Spain began applying the practice as the need to distinguish > individuals became more important. By the 1370's the word "surname" > is found in documents, and has come to acquire some emotive and dynastic > significance. > Men sometimes sought to keep their surname alive by encouraging a > collateral to adopt it when they had no direct descendants of their own > in the male line. Although we can see > that the handing on of a surname has become a matter of pride, we can > only guess as to the reasons for adopting hereditary surnames in the > first place. > > In nearly every case, surnames were first usedby the nobility and wealthy > landowners, and the practice then trickled down to the merchants who > derived their names from their manors and fiefs. These names became > fixed through the hereditary nature of their lands. For the member of > the working and middle classes seeking status, the practices of the > nobility were imitated, leading to the widespread use of surnames. > > Family names have come down to us in various ways. They may have grown > out of a person's surroundings or job, or the name of an ancestor. Most > surnames evolved from four general sources: > > Occupation: The local house builder, food preparer, grain grinder, and > suit maker, would > be named respectively: John Carperter, John Cook, John Miller and John > Taylor. Thus, > every village had its share of Carpenters, Cooks, Millers and Taylors. > And, those in one > town weren't necessarily related to the Carpenters, etc. in the next. > > Location: The John who lived over the hill became known as John > Overhill; the one who dwelled near a stream might be dubbed John Brook. > Many locational surnames originated as placenames. You can tell that a > surname is a locational placename if it ends with one of > the regular placename elements, such as -hill, -ford, -wood, -brook, > -well, and so on. Less > easily recognized locational surnames end with -ton, -ham, -wick, -stead > meaning a farm, or > small settlement. Other common locational endings are -don, (a hill), > -bury (a fortification) > or -leigh, or -ley (a clearing). > > Patronymic (father's name): Many of these surnames can be recognized by > the termination--son, such as Williamson, Jackson, etc. Some endings > used by other countries to indicate "son" are: Armenians - ian, Danes and > Norwegians - sen, Finns -nen, > Greeks - poulos, Spaniards- ez, and Poles - wiecz. Prefixes denoting > "son" are the Welch > - Ap, the Scots and Irish- Mac, and the Normans - Fitz. So, John the son > of Randolph became John Fitz-Randolph because "fitz" means "son of". In > Wales, David the son of John tacked "Ap" in front of his father's name, > and David ap John was soon being called > David Upjohn. In Scotland, Gilleain's descendants were known as > MacGilleain and later > shortened to MacLeab, McClean, McLane, and all the other versions. > > Characteristic: An unusually small person might be labeled Small, Short, > Little or Lytle. A > large man might be named Longfellow, Large, Lang, or Long. Many persons > having characteristics of a certain animal would be given the animal's > name. Examples: a sly person might be named Fox; a good swimmer, Fish; a > quiet man, Dove; etc. > > Many historians believe that surnames derived from places (locational) > were the first to > become hereditary. The surname KEGEL appears to be locational in origin. > Research > indicates it can be associated with the Germans, meaning, "dweller at the > stumps or stubs". Although this interpretation is the result of > onomastic research, you may find other meanings for the Cagle family name > i.e., bowling pin (which is short and stubby). > Many surnames have more than one origin. For instance, the English > surname "Bell" > may designate one who lived or worked at the sign of the bell, or it may > refer to a bell- > ringer, or bellmaker. It may be a nickname for "the handsome one", from > the old French > word "bel" which means beautiful. It could also indicate the descendant > of "Bel", or pet form of Isabel. > > "What's in a name? That which we call a rose; by any other name would > smell so sweet." > William Shakespeare > > Or better put "It doesn't matter how you spell it, we are all Cagles." > Tom at Toolcity. > > Cousin Lee Cagle > Ben Franklin Cagle, 1819 Line. > Moore, OK > > ___________________________________________________________________ > Get the Internet just the way you want it. > Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! > Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj > > ==== CAGLE Mailing List ==== > > Ground Work One Of My Favorites > http://members.aol.com/ssmadonna/index.htm