Where Do Surnames Come From

By tracing the possible origin of your last name, you can learn more about your ancestors who first bore the surname and, ultimately, handed it down to you.  Surname meanings  can sometimes tell a story about your family that goes back hundreds of years. It can reflect where they lived, their profession, a description of them physically, or their own ancestry. The establishment of a family name would have started by class, with the wealthy landowners using them for identification before rural peasants. It may have changed over the decades, so some ancestors names may take some creativity in searching. Search Origins   If you know your ethnic origin, you may be able to find out more about your last name through lists of  meanings and etymologies by ethnicity.  If you are not sure of the names origin, try starting with the  100 most popular U.S. surnames. Generational Name Changes In a patronymic method, a person may have decided his last name would trace his family line by who his father was: Johnson (son of John) or Olson (son of Ole), for example. This name wouldnt be applied to the whole family, however. For a time, the surnames changed with each generation. In an example of such a system, Ben Johnsons son would then be Dave Benson. Another person establishing a last name might have chosen the name based on where he lived (such as Appleby, a city or a farm raising apples, or Atwood), his job (Tanner or Thatcher), or some defining characteristic (such as Short or Red, which may have morphed into Reed) which could also change by generation. The establishment of permanent surnames for a group of people could have happened anywhere from the second century to the 15th century — or even much later. In Norway, for example, permanent last names started becoming the practice in about 1850 and were widespread by 1900. But it didnt actually become law to adopt a permanent last name there until 1923. It can also be tricky to identify which person is which in a search, as families may have similar naming orders for sons and daughters, for example, with the first-born son always named John. Spelling Changes When searching for the origin or etymology of your surname, consider that your last name may not have always been spelled the way it is today. Even through at least the first half of the 20th century, it is not unusual to see the same individuals last name spelled in many different ways from record to record. For example, you might see the seemingly easy-to-spell surname Kennedy spelled as Kenedy, Canady, Kanada, Kenneday, and even Kendy due to clerks, ministers, and other officials spelling the name as they heard it pronounced. Sometimes, alternate variants stuck and were passed down to future generations. It is even not that uncommon to see siblings passing down different variants of the same original surname. Its a myth, the Smithsonian says, that immigrants to the United States often had their last names Americanized by Ellis Island inspectors as they came off the boat. Their names would have first been written down on the ships manifest when the immigrants boarded in their country of origin. The immigrants themselves could have changed their names to sound more American, or their names could have been difficult to understand by the person taking it down. If a person transferred ships during the journey, the spelling could change from ship to ship. The inspectors at Ellis Island processed people based on the languages they themselves spoke, so they may have been making corrections to spellings when immigrants arrived. If the people youre searching had names spelled in a different alphabet, such as immigrants from China, the Middle East, or Russia, the spellings could vary widely among census, immigration, or other official documents, so be creative with your searches. Research Tips for Common Names All the background knowledge about how names came about and could have changed is well and good, but how do you go about actually searching for a particular person, especially if the surname is common? The more information you have on a person, the easier it will be to narrow down the information. Learn as much about the person as possible. Birth and death dates are very helpful to narrow people down, and if you can add a middle name, so much the better. But even knowing his or her occupation could help separate your ancestor from another one in the same town.  Keep a list of the persons dates as you find them to help narrow down search results, as minor children wouldnt be buying land or paying taxes, for example.  If you can, connect the person to someone with a more unusual name. If you know the person married someone in a certain year or had a sibling of a certain age, that can help narrow your search.Learn about the persons connections as much as possible. Knowing one persons city address in a census year can help you find his or her children or siblings — or anyone else who lived in the same household — because old census records went street by street.  Land and tax records can help narrow down the right person in a rural setting or they can help excl ude the rural folks from a city dweller. Keep track of plat identifying information. Two cousins named Robert Smith may have lived near each other, so having land parcel numbers (and finding them on a map) can help separate the men and their family groups.Try wildcard searches using asterisks in place of some letters, so you dont have to get the name spelled perfectly in your searches.Digging through scores of records can be frustrating, but staying organized with charts can help narrow down whether youve already crossed off one particular John Jones from your list or whether another from a similar age and city is actually the person youre seeking. Source Ault, Alicia. Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants? Smithsonian, December 28, 2016.

Essay on personality - 766 Words

How would Freud explain the personality differences between Mike and Marty Scanlon? According to Freud, the mind can be divided into two main parts: The conscious mind includes everything that we are aware of. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally. A part of this includes our memory, which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily at any time and brought into our awareness. Freud called this ordinary memory the preconscious. The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or†¦show more content†¦Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. 3. Given that Mike and Marty Scanlon are twins and share some of their genetic makeup, how would you explain the pronounced differences in their personalities? What role, if any, does temperament seem to be playing? . Temperament plays a major part in the differences in Mike and Marty’s personalities. Temperament is quite consistent with significant stability from infancy well into adolescence. It is clear that certain personality traits have substantial genetic components, and that heredity and environment interact to determine personality. They are generally stable but can be modified by experience. Cross- cultural differences in temperament may reflect childraising practices. A mothers depression, especially if severe or chronic, may have serious consequences for her infants development. Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety may arise during the second half of the first year and appear to be related to temperament and circumstances. 4. Which of the two brothers seems more likely to be achieving self-actualization, and why do you think so? . Marty would be achieving self actualization a state ofShow MoreRelatedPersonality Evaluation : Personality And Personality Essay1608 Words   |  7 PagesPersonality Evaluation There have been many studies towards the understanding of personality and how it is given to humankind. Personality, described in Experience Psychology, â€Å"is a pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual shapes the world† (King, 2016, pg. 375). It is often difficult to reflect on our own personalities without having a strong perception of who we are, or wish to be. Luckily, there are scientists who study and analyzeRead MorePersonality : Personality And Personality Essay2127 Words   |  9 Pages The subject of personality is one that is extremely complex and dynamic. 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The economist Keynes Free Essays

The author should address the use of labor laws to increase productivity and rebuild family bonds as our previous economy. The labor laws must reflect the new changes in our New Economy in order for traditional workers and corporations to flourish. Increased productivity can reduce the workloads of all workers once our economy reaches a successful standpoint in comparison to our forefathers. We will write a custom essay sample on The economist Keynes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Economists call this movement a revolution, but many workers are still experiencing a mind numbing career due to the long hours placed on their positions within corporations. The total mindsets of corporations replacing the â€Å"family† aspect are visible in today’s new society as well; for instance, new technologies are replacing workers and outsourcing has reduced costs. These affiliations with other corporations have become a society within their own rights – IT firms and real estate industries. The economist Keynes understands that the work being put into the economy now will reduce the problems and fix the way our society functions today. Families have been disrupted due to the increased work weeks, single-family homes, and outsourcing in which some employees have relocated into foreign countries. Our economy may reach full potential if the government enforces vacation days as a requirement for all companies. This will give workers time to recuperate from the hard work they have placed into their jobs during the week. In a way, this is a very clever argument because there is a possibility that worker will increase their productivity after a slight rest. Civil activities can be attended to as they were before, more money will flow through the economy, and the technologies can alter or require workers to return to school for higher education. Our New Economy demands a high-performance individual with working knowledge of the latest technologies; higher education requirements are signaling an improved economy too. National awareness of the advanced technology may make labor laws suitable for high-performance workers as well as traditional workers. How to cite The economist Keynes, Papers

Humor was used in the medieval time period to expr Essay Example For Students

Humor was used in the medieval time period to expr Essay ess ones ideas and thoughts. Geoffrey Chaucer also used humor in The Canterbury Tales in different instances. In The Nuns Priest Tale and The Millers Tale I will show you how he uses humor to describe characters, his use of language and the actual events that take place. In the Nuns Priest Tale there is a rooster named Chaunticleer. His name suggests a fine knight or nobleprince. The description of a rooster as a noble prince in courtly love romances is ridiculas and maybe this is what keeps us from taking him to seriously in this story. Nicholas, a clerk or scholar, from The Millers Tale also has a ironic name. His name suggests St. Nicholas from plays about a mysterious guest at the home of evil hosts. In the story, however, its the other way around. In Chaunticleers description Chaucer uses a contrasting humor. The rooster acts as a noble knight or prince when in reality he is only a barnyard animal. The description of the barnyard animals brings an undercut from the courtly love that occurs throughout the tale. The reminds you to think that Chaunticleer and Pertelote are only animals which brings about a hilarious effect. With Nicholas, a lowly clerk, portraying a higher class gentleman when in essence he just wants a sexual pursuit and the meani ng of his name uses an ironic humor to show he is an idiot. With John, the carpenter, Alison, his wife, and Absalom, the priest, in The Millers Tale they also put on airs of being an upper class citizen.. They also bring you back to the basic idea they are common people just putting on a show for each other. The humor in description is very plentiful and Chaucer uses it to interest you in the story. We will write a custom essay on Humor was used in the medieval time period to expr specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Another way Chaucer uses humor in these tales is his choice of language. In The Millers Tale Chaucer uses the word pivetee for Gods secret affairs when John talks to Nicholas in his room. Men sholde nat knowe of Goddes privetee (Oxford, line 346). It appears again in reference not to God but to the affair of Nicholas and Alison. This is a very ironic and funny usage of the language since one is holy and the other is evil. Chaucer uses the language of courtly love and description to point out human desires and weakness. Weakness because the beloved lady has the power of life or death over the lovesick Chaunticleer and/or Nicholas. Chaunticleer would have listened to his dream more if his beloved Pertelote hadnt played down his dream. Nicholas wouldnt have been speared if Alison wouldnt have had teased Absalom at the window. One more way Chaucer uses humor is the actual events or situations themselves. John is easily doped by being naive which leads to his downfall. Nicholas being a scholar in astronomy tells john that he has seen the next Noahs flood and should tie tubs to the roof of the house to beat this. As well that John and Alison should not sleep together because they will be awaiting Gods grace. The joke here is we dont know is Nicholas realizes that God sent Noah the flood because man became corrupt and lecherous. The same sins are causing the phony flood even though the planthis time isnt Gods. Chanticleer is also easily doped by the fox. The fox asks Chaunticleer if he could sing as well as his father did Let see conne ye you fader countirefete? (Oxford, line 166). It is ironic that his downfall is his very pride and joy his voice. An instance where Nicholas tells Alison his plan will work because a clerk can fool a carpenter any day is funny because this class distinction is humorous in the circumstances since all the character are common people even though they are trying to be noble and courtly. The fox also believes that his plan will work and does, even though they are just plain animals in a barnyard, he believes he is superior in thought since he is sly and a sweet talker. But trewely the cuase of my cominge/Was only for the herkne how that