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Gaseous Anomaly raised an interesting subject that probably doesn't need to clog up the newbies thread. During the American Civil War (or the War Between the States, depending on which side you were rooting for ), a lot of families changed the spelling and/or pronunciation of their family name, to differentiate themselves from "those traitors who sympathized with the "other" side (whichever side that may have been).
My own name, "Dunehew" [pronounced "dún-uh (or eh)-hew, accent on the first syllable] is a variation of "Donohue" which is a variation of O'Donoghue (according to Gaseous Anomaly).
The Civil War began in 1861. As far as I can tell, All four of my great grandfathers served during the Civil War. Grandpa Dunehew was from Indiana (Union) and the other three (Dover, Ford, and Woods) were from southern states (Arkansas, Georgia, and Missourri). All except one (possibly the Georgian GGF, but I'm not sure) served with the Union, something which did not necessarily endear themselves to the folks back home.
I may be distantly related to Robert Ford, who murdered Jesse James. Interestingly, At one time I worked for a man who was a great-grand-nephew (or some such) of Jesse James. He thought it was kind of funny when he learned we might be "related" that way.
--Baloo
------------------ "Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain." --FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER Come Hither and Yawn...
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The spelling of my last name hasn't changed in around 600 years.. though the pronounciation has varied a bit.
The first Farquhar was Farquhar MacRae, who, according to family history, was the grandson of MacDuff. (Of 'MacBeth' fame.) His son started the Farquharson Clan, of which Farquhar is a main branch.
It's pronounced "far-ker." (accent on 'far'.)
Which leads itself to innumerable jokes... muthafarquhar. "Farquhar? I don't even KNOW her!" etc.
My great x 5 grandfather worked for G. Washington helping to survey the Virginia/Pennsylvania/Maryland boundaries, and was rewarded with land in SW PA, that part of my family still occupies.
I'm related to Richard Nixon, and Alexander Stephens (the v.p. of the Confederacy)
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
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All I know about my last name is that it's french. My ancestors migrated from France to Acadia way back then. A relative of mine on my mom's side was one of the founders of Truro, N.S. I know that I'm a member of the Breau clan, from my mother's side. The Breau clan book is about as big as the ST Encyclopedia *L*
------------------ Ross: "Inter arma, enim silent leges." Bashir: "'In the time of war the law falls silent.' Cicero. Have we become a 24th-century Rome, driven by the fact that Caesar can do no wrong?!" -Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
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Well, all I know about my last name (Nix) is that it is apparently Welsh, deriving from the name "Nicholas". I also know that I can trace it back to the 1850s in Tennessee, and that I've lost the line before then. Which is really annoying... :-)
------------------ Lisa: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Bart: "Not if you called them 'stench blossoms'..." -The Simpsons
), a lot of families changed the spelling and/or pronunciation of their family name, to differentiate themselves from "those traitors who sympathized with the "other" side (whichever side that may have been).
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