All I Want For Christmas Is A New Surname Dear Santa: Don't bring me new dishes, I don't need a new kind of game. Genealogists have peculiar wishes; For Christmas I just want a surname. A new washing machine would be great, But it's not the desire of my life. I've just found an ancestor's birth date; What I need now is the name of his wife. My heart doesn't yearn for a ring, That would put a real diamond to shame. What I want is a much cheaper thing; Please give me Mary's last name. To see my heart singing with joy, Don't bring me a red leather suitcase. Bring me a genealogist's toy; A surname with dates and a place. (author unknown, published in Illinois State Genealogical Society newsletter 1984)