Hi Donna, You don't provide a date and place, which is unfortunate. Up to a point our ancestors tended to adhere to a European naming pattern, often associated by us Brits with the Scots, but the English, IRish, Welsh, Germans, French, etc, also used it, all breaking away at different times. So my great grandmother's middle name was Grant. Was there a Grant in her past? NO! I think she was named after a political figure. Use of Wellington as a first name suggests that this is a surname, often on the mother's side. It's a clue. It's not a smoking gun. If you watch a lot of TV then you know that a clue may not be what it first appears to be. Don't jump to conclusions too fast or you'll hang the wrong man. If you'd slumbered through a linguistics class, you'd know immediately this is not an Irish name. You might have killed a few listers who fell off their chairs laughing <grin>. The only use I've found for my linguistics class is genealogy! That -ton is a dead giveaway. Here we have an English placename. It is first documented, according to "A Dictionary of English Surnames" by Reaney and Wilson, in 1209. Many, many, many English have gone to Ireland, taking along their surnames. One way to quickly determine if the surname is known in Ireland is to check IGI and related sources at www.familysearch.org . If you search for the surname in Ireland you will find it, but that does not mean it is "Scotch Irish". It means it is a surname in Ireland. It's not clear what you mean by "Scotch Irish"? Protestants in Ireland? Protestants of Scottish descent in Ireland? In order to be of Scots origin in Ireland, you must find it in Scotland. Check for it in the same source in Scotland. You will find a few. It's important to recall that English was spoken in Edinburgh LONG before London. LOTS of Angles settled in Scotland, so there are plenty of English surnames and English placenames. In addition, plenty of English came to Scotland in the Middle Ages, invited by the Scottish kings as feudal landlords who would owe allegiance to the kings. Like the Bruces. Donno about this surname. If you are try ing to pin point a country in the UK where to search for people of this name, try England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is not going to help. It is not a clue to the origin of the family, but if you pursue the clue, you may find evidence of their homeland. Best of luck! Linda Merle -------------- Original message -------------- From: "D.C." <kinshipmatters@twmi.rr.com> > Hi all. Does anyone know if the first name "Wellington" has Scotch-Irish > background or is it only Irish or where it comes from? I just wondered if > this could give me any clues. > > > > Donna > > - Just fishin' without a fish pole. > >