On Wed, 20 Oct 1999 06:40:04 -0700 Ida Skarson McCormick <idamc@seanet.com> writes: Cazaire may well be a variant spelling of Keziah, a common Bible name in colonial America. I have seen it "mangled" as Cazire and Curzirah. Keziah was one of the daughters of Job. The other 2 named were Jemima and Kerren-happuch (commonly abbreviated as Kerren H.). Looking at Cazaire's siblings, do they have Bible names? Was John's wife born in America? In dealing with variant names, we need to remember that R is not a consonant. Ida Skarson McCormick, idamc@seanet.com, Dear Ida, In support of your hypothesis, I knew a family from Caldwell County, NC having the surname Keziah. They pronounced it "Kazar, with the emphasis on the second syllable". Others with this surnamed pronounced it as spelled, though. Ray Yount ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.