Dear Listers, I would appreciate any information that you can provide about the origins of the PATT surname. In my research, I found a Hotel PATT (Ohm Patt) in Germany and a restaurant Venezia PATT in Italy. There were numerous German surnames PATT in the Family History Files in Salt Lake City, UT. I have not been able to make any connections to my PATT line, which I could only trace back to 1802-1804, the birth dates of my great, great grandparents. John Patt (born 1804, died 1874) and Ellen Fitzgerald Patt (born 1802, died 1872) came from Litter, County Kerry Ireland. Jeremiah King’s Book lists about 13 PATT families living in the Kerry area. My John Patt is one of them. However, I have found nothing that traces their history back into the 16th or 17th centuries and a Palantine origin. I would appreciate any help you can provide. Now to resolve any questions about my surname (PATTWELL), a “funny” story follows. It seems my grandfather Michael “Mickey” and his two brothers, John “Jack” and Martin “Dinty” stowed away on a ship bound for Canada in 1895. On the way over they decided that it would be prudent to try and disguise their surname to make it appear English, since in New York at that time, there were signs all over indicating that, “Irish need not apply”. So they decided to add “well” to the name and it would look like Cromwell or Stillwell. Of course, they paid no mind to the “map of Ireland” on their faces or their Irish brogues, don’t you know! Then the brothers began to argue as to the spelling of the surname. John and Martin agreed that “you pat a dog on the head, pat, pat and a well is where you draw water, so the name must be spelled with one “t”, i.e. Patwell. “No sir”, my grandfather Michael said, “I’ll not be adding “well” and droppin’ a “t” too! Hence, half my family spells the surname with one “t” and the rest use two “t”s. My grandfather always said we were right because we preserved the true surname and didn’t butcher it. So if you wondered where the term “thick micks” came from, here is an example! Well, thank you for your time and consideration of my request and I hope to hear from some of you. Take care and God bless you all. Sincerely, Bob Pattwell. Long Island, New York