This is in response to a post from Joan <joan.mayhew@zfree.co.nz> on 13 Sept who asked -- < Could anyone tell me if RHONE or RONE was a Huguenot name? > This is a question that pops up on the list every now and then. One of our subscribers, Jim, put it very well when he said on 22 Feb -- "There are NO Huguenot surnames, only Huguenot individuals." Exactly. There is no name which will *always* be Huguenot. It depends on the time and the place and the religious convictions of the persons with that name. Remember, the Huguenots and Walloons were converts to John Calvin's Protestantism. Before that, their families -- and therefore their names -- were originally Catholic. The only certain way to find out if your surname once belonged to Huguenot ancestors is to research it back in time, step by step, and see where your research leads. Of course, you may strike it lucky and find that your name fits on a large family tree already done by someone else -- but this doesn't happen to most of us. Or you may find your surname on a list of *proven* Huguenot names. But this does not mean that there is a connection between *your* surname and the one on the list, in spite of the fact that they are the same. It only means that someone has researched that particular family or branch and proven it to be Huguenot. But there are almost certainly persons with that same surname who were not Huguenot, especially if it is a common name. Be aware, also, that such lists of *approved* Huguenot names contain only a small portion of the total number of surnames which have been proven to be Huguenot. So, even if you don't find your surname on any such list, it doesn't prove anything either. In the end, you are the only one who can answer the question -- Is this a Huguenot name? -- and you can only do so by research. You may find Huguenot ancestors in the end....or you may not. But remember to enjoy the search, and also whatever you find at the end of that search. Hope I have helped to answer this question. And, Joan, I notice that the 2000 GRD has two listings for RHONE -- locations: one for Warwickshire and the other for County Down, Ireland. I can send details if you are interested. Andrea