> I understand the HALCROW name came from a Norse Kingdom that was > split between > 2 sons - thus the name of HAL(f) CROW(n). The surname then > drifted down to > the Shetlands then the Mainland I'm afraid this sounds like a typical "folkloric etymology" for the surname. The idea I've come across is also one I'm not particularly enamoured with but it suggests that the name derives from a typical nickname used for the pre-Norse inhabitants of the islands. It suggests that "Halcrow" or its earlier form "Haucrow" comes from the nickname "Crow-dwelling"; "crow" being a nickname for the indigenous people of the islands. Although the nickname theory may be correct, the "cro" element sounds too like the Old Norse "kró" meaning a small enclosure. The first element "hau" or "hal" could be a number of things - "mound", "high", "neck". However, the one fly in this ointment is the fact that there are no (at least none I can think of) Halcro placenames in Orkney that could have been the "birthplace" of the surname. -- Sigurd Towrie - Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney E-Mail: sigurd@orkneyjar.com Orkneyjar - The Heritage of Orkney: http://www.orkneyjar.com