Ronnie, Family names may have several origins. Patronimics (from Pater, from the father's name) like: Gonc,alves (son of Gonc,alo) Rodrigues (son of Rodrigo) Lopes (son of Lopo) Mendes (son of Mem or Mendo) Soares (son of Soeiro) Nunes (son of Nuno) Anes, Eanes, etc., (son of Joao) Toponimics (from topos, from some place; should have a 'de' - meaning FROM - before the name) like: (de) Almeida (de) Castro (de) Freitas (de) Gouveia (de) Gois (de/da) Silva (de) Sousa Religious, like: da Conceic,ao de Jesus do Espirito Santo etc. Nicknames, like: Louro Moreno Ruivo Careca Calvo Barbas Guedelha Luis K W Lisboa-Portugal ---------------------- MENSAGEM ORIGINAL ---------------------- Paulo: Pardon my asking but I'm in the USA and don't understand what you mean when you say and use the word, "patronimics". Can you explain? Thanks, Ronnie French (decendent of Jose do Espirito Santo and Virginia Augusta de Freitas Lopes). ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paulo Gomes Jardim" darwin@spamcop.net To: prt-madeira@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 3:38 PM Subject: Re: [PT-MADEIRA] Isabel de Gois On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:01:20 +0100, Gregobhte1@aol.com wrote: [..] Hi Paulo.... You are absolutely right about the names. Is Isabel and she has a daughter Helena. YES!! the confusion is between sources coming from Peter Clode and the author of the book Familias da Gaula. I also have the book "Familias de Gaula", the last 2005 corrected edition. I must say it is a monumental effort and a most invaluable book to have for anyone interested in Madeira Genealogies. It's available for sell in Junta de Freguesia de Gaula, people aboard interested to acquire it may probably write to them and ask for an exemplar. I must also say that from my experience this book is ridden with errors, either on dates of marriage, on ascendancy of married couples, and on many assumptions made there, such as congregating all the Afonsos, Gonçalves, Rodrigues, Jorges, etc. all in one family, when they are patronimics, and thus often unrelated between themselves. It's quite good for using as a guide, but you must always confirm the data against original records. The quality of the data improves as we reach modern times, and most living people from Gaula can easily find their way up from there. It's unfortunate, however, that a name index is not included, and the method of classification (surnames, as opposed to lineages) is not the ideal, in my opinion. The author, José Lourenço de Gouveia e Freitas, has the immense credit of dedicating the same effort to popular lineages as to more aristochratic ones, and took great care to include many expatriate families now living abroad in USA, Venezuela, South Africa, Jersey, etc.. I highly recommend as well "Gaula: a Terra e a Gente", which should act as a complement for the former one, or vice-versa. I find this book to be more accurate historically than the genealogical study. Paulo -- " Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres." -- Horacio ------------- Clix ADSL até 24 Mb: a partir de € 29,90/mês A Internet mais rápida do mercado, agora com chamadas grátis e downloads ilimitados! Saiba mais em http://acesso.clix.pt/