HOOKED ON ONOMASTIKONS by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <myravg@prodigy.net> <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/> Tracing a surname and the family who used it is one of the most fascinating pursuits in genealogy. Your surname can be a clue to your paternal ethnic origins, assuming it has been a hereditary one for some time. However, because so many of our names have been "Americanized" through the years, there are many Americans bearing British-sounding names whose ancestors never set foot in the British Isles. Do you know how long your family has used its surname? Have you traced its origins as far back as possible (perhaps to the Middle Ages)? Names have their own histories, just as families do. How many variant spellings of your name have you found? You know you can always recognize a brand-new genealogist by their insistence that "Our name has ALWAYS been spelled this way." It simply is not so. Some of us descend from an ancestor who was adopted or reared by another family and took their surname. Many of us bear surnames that were simply taken by our ancestors for various reasons. Others had their names officially changed. Most of the hereditary surnames of Europe derive from: o Patronymics, from the father's first name; John's son became Johnson. o Occupations, like Carpenter, Cartwright or Smith. o Place or topographical names such as London, Atwater. or Hill. o Nicknames, such as Goodall ("good ale") for an ale-taster or brewer; or Crookshanks, a bowlegged man or one with a crooked leg. Larger libraries usually have several surname dictionaries. Peruse them all. A DICTIONARY OF SURNAMES, by Hanks and Hodges, is helpful, but not all American surnames appear in it. Be sure to check its index where you will find, for example, the surname Eyers referenced to Ayer. Then look up Ayer in the main section for information. For those with suspected German names, consult GERMAN-AMERICAN NAMES, by George F. Jones, and see Elsdon C. Smith's NEW DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN FAMILY NAMES. Curious where other people with your surname live in the United States? There is a database on the Web with 50,000 of the most common U.S. surnames at this website: <http://hamrick.com/names/> The top 50 surnames of England and Wales are listed at: <http://www.fairacre.demon.co.uk/England-Surnames/Top50.htm> Check out An Onomastikon (Dictonary of Names) <http://www.fairacre.demon.co.uk/>. This collection of names around the world entertains and educates. Permission to reprint: Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists, Vol. 4, No. 20, 14 May 1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm>.