Barbara: I checked with my State library which has a very good collection of surname books and their histories below is what they found. Apparentlty nothing was found for West in the U.K. other than West itself. If I had to guess I would say that your original West if he came from Germany shortened it to West, or a census taker did it foir him !If you think that instead they were Ulsterscots then I can give you some heavy reading to look for the name both as 1900's name and as a 1600's name. Gordon Crooks ----- Original Message ----- From: "ssh" <ssh@prattlibrary.org> To: "Gordon Crooks" <gordoncrooks@worldnet.att.net> Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 9:14 AM Subject: West (surname) > Mr. Crooks : > > The " Dictionary of German Names " by Hans Bahlow lists the following > surnames, any of which could have been shortened to " West " : Westrich, > Westerling, Westermann, Wester, Westing, Westarp, Westfelhing, Westphal, > Westram, and Westrum. > > --Answered by : Librarian, Social Science and History Department, Enoch > Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.338 / Virus Database: 270.12.34/2122 - Release Date: 05/19/09 06:21:00