Just thought you may be interested in knowing that the Ragan (our spelling) name is quite rare in the UK. I've never met one I wasn't related to in all of my 50 years. Its quite an eerie feeling to see the names of other Ragans in the US, especially when they have the same first names as my immediate family. Also, a lot of your place names are the same as english place names so it gets a bit confusing for me. I'm one of the Ragans who keep hitting brick walls. Originally, our branch of the family came from Gateshead a large industrial town in the North East of England, close to the border with Scotland. I've tracked them back there to the beginning of the 1900s but that's as far as I have got. Gateshead attracted a lot of immigrant workers following the potato famine in Ireland. Trouble is it also attracted a lot of Norwegian workers and I've heard that there are quite a few Ragans over there. Not to mention Ragans in Scotland - that's just a few miles up the road from Gateshead. June Ragan ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com