Quote Originally Posted by Big Homestead View Post
Wow, amazing thread! We all owe you a pint.

How about the names MacHuish (Norman Welsh/Scot?) Schmidt (which is germanic for Smith), and Hauck(swiss or german).

Blessings to you and yours!!!
MACHUISH I did some searching on this one, and found nothing at all. Based on sound approximation, it could be Anglicised from many possibilities: Mac Cuis, Mac Ois?

Frankly this method fails more often than not. The Gaelic languages are vastly different than English, and have many silent letters and letter combinations that weren't represented when these names were Anglicised. Gaelic also has many sounds which simply don't exist in English. Furthermore, while some people say that pronunciation was preserved through Anglicisation, this is patently untrue. Most Anglicisations of Gaelic names were done by Anglophone scribes who had little knowledge (or regard) for Gaelic. Most of the versions we now know bear minimal resemblance in sound to the original.

Here's an example. The Irish surname Mulryan (pronounced today as MULL-RYE-AN) was originally Ó Maoilriain (pronounced O MEEL-REE-UN)

SCHMIDT The Gaelic for smith is Gobhann (SCOTTISH GAELIC) and Gabhann (IRISH). Both are pronounced as GOW-AN or GOE-AN, depending on dialect. There is a surname already based on this name: Mac a' Gobhainn (SCOTTISH GAELIC) and Mac Gabhann (IRISH). Both mean son of the smith. We recognise it today Anglicised as MacGowan.

HAUCK ? German names are obviously a little out of my area of expertise. A Gaelicised spelling (for amusement sake) could be Hác.