Hi Lois, Funny you should ask. I was recently conversing with a woman named Roane who found out that her family name was in fact Ruane (pronounced Ru-wain) and Anglicized (or otherwise screwed up) to Roane once in the US. She had found the name had several variations including Rowan, Roan, and Roane (and I think a few others). So your question is not dumb at all - in fact a very good one to ask. Here's a snippet of the note she sent me: *** A few years back, I wrote to the Galway Family History Center and had them do a search for me. They asserted the spelling of this surname in Ireland is RUANE and they furnished 1821 Ireland Census records of a family in Athenry town with names and ages that are a reasonable fit to my known data. --I am aware (as I suspect you are) that this back-working of data is NOT a legitimate research technique, and my theory may ultimately be proven wrong, but... *** This doesn't mean definitively that your Rowan surname is derived from Ruane, but there is clearly that possibility and you should search with that in mind. It's amazing to look at the US census records and see just how many people were illiterate back in the 1800s and well into the 1900s. It plays havoc with family history research as you seem well aware. The dates are another thing that blow me away. I've found my great grandmother with at least four different birth years (different on census, ships papers, marriage, and birth certificates). Sometimes by as much as 10 years! Were they shy about their real age? Did they care? Or, and I think this is the most likely, they weren't even sure themselves. I've tried to take the document closest to their birth (often a Christening) and use it as the benchmark. It seems like it would be the most likely to be accurate, but then you have the people who record the documents who - are human after all - make mistakes. When I was 18 I registered for the draft and the half-deaf woman who took my information recorded my birth date wrong. To this day my draft card (wherever it is) has an incorrect date. That happened in 1970! As far as "rising above your raising" is concerned, my grandfather always used to say we were from Irish royalty (gramps was a bartender and a blackface in a Vaudeville act and quite a character). After all, the Haverty's were "Chiefs" in Galway. I think Chiefs were seated slightly above serfs, but being Irish we like to crow a little :>) Since then I've found a link to real royalty in the family. Not one he'd likely enjoy though (having held Sinn Fein meetings in my childhood home and all). I found a link to Lady Diana Spencer's 7th grandmother through a family named Gatchell (also spelled Getchell and sometimes with only one "L" - here we go again) who come back into my line via the Doughty and Moriarty families. Now that's almost as distant as Adam and Eve, but heck, it's royalty. So the next time you pronounce your name Row-WAN, hold your head high like a prince or princess. You might just be one. Cheers, Rick Haverty PS: I also have relations from Rhode Island who are Greenes (noticed your email address) and they in turn are related to the Rhodes (of Rhode Island). -----Original Message----- From: GreenHiLo@aol.com [mailto:GreenHiLo@aol.com] Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 7:06 PM To: rhaverty@rochester.rr.com Subject: Kellys and Ruanes Rick, I just read your recent mail to the Galway list and saw the name Ruane listed. This may seem like a dumb question but how is that name pronounced? I have some ancestors from Galway who appear as Rowan. My mother 's family pronounced the name ROW-WAN (accent second syllable) I attended a Rowan family gathering and pronounced the name ROW-WAN and a gentleman there told me that I was " rising above my raising" to pronounce it that way. That group pronounced the name Row-in. My thought is that my group may have had another spelling for the name which resulted in the different pronunciation. My family was illiterate when they emigrated so they wouldn't have known how to spell their name. I have been told that Ruane is an alternate spelling for Rowan so if you can tell me how your family pronounced Ruane I would be most appreciative. The few ancestors I have found DID pronounce it like mother did. My family lived in the mountains of western Maryland-They kept a very low profile and have been a great challenge to find in records. Thanks for your time, LoisZ