De-Anglicisation of Names

[slohairt]

hello again thanks for the information and entertainment ... quick one for you ive got a name that research shows is mainly english but sometimes irish ... my stepsisters surname is shirley ... her dad is a short freckled flame head that burns looking at a lightbulb so when he claims to be irish i believe him ...

As far as I can tell, the surname is of Anglo-Saxon etymology. The ley suffix is almost always a dead giveaway. According to most sources it is derived from scir meaning bright and leah meaning clear. That does not suggest they aren't Irish, of course. There are hundreds of Irish surnames that are not Irish in origin.

[slohairt]

Thanks for the entertainment, I've just spent a very pleasant hour or so reading through all of this post. While the origin of most of my family names is relatively easy to track down I've always struggled with my own name, McCorriston.

I agree, it is a difficult name. The best I could find (so far), were vague topographical references suggesting it was a name meaning McCorrie's Town. I think that rather unlikely, though. It's probable that it just a really bad Anglicisation that will take some time sorting out. I'll keep looking.

[DWFII]

I've seen something of this sort done for my mother's family name--Sweeney. I've seen the derivation of Sweeney from MacSween and so forth.

I've read that after Bannockburn many of the MacSweens left for Donegal where they became Sweeneys...that's seem pretty straight-forward. But those that stayed somehow became MacQueens and/or MacEwens. Do you have any idea how MacSween becomes MacQueen or even MacEwen?

[greenguzzi]

a branch of my family is called "green" which is traditionally an English name however they are all Pikeys, my uncle claims is from the word "Grain" which means "the sun" or a mispelling of "Greer" by a short sighted priest from "Mc Gregor"

Hi cousin!

My surname is "Green". Both of my parent's families hail from Ireland. I was told by my dad that the name "Green" was adopted when the family moved from Ireland to London to hide their Irish heritage so to avoid prejudice. Anyone heard that theory before?

[bjproc]

Hi cousin!

My surname is "Green". Both of my parent's families hail from Ireland. I was told by my dad that the name "Green" was adopted when the family moved from Ireland to London to hide their Irish heritage so to avoid prejudice. Anyone heard that theory before?

that may be true, as i've had a family member who left portree a mcnicol and dropped the Mc to just nicol to hopefully get some work

[highlander_Daz]

weve done the "Green" name before, we thought it may be from "Grain" meaning the sun

http://www.irishgen.com/surnames/det...surname_id=148


http://www.goireland.com/genealogy/f...m?FamilyId=186

[davedove]

Hi cousin!

My surname is "Green". Both of my parent's families hail from Ireland. I was told by my dad that the name "Green" was adopted when the family moved from Ireland to London to hide their Irish heritage so to avoid prejudice. Anyone heard that theory before?

That brings up an important point. Just because a name may have originated from a certain region, doesn't mean that is where your family got it. It was certainly not unknown for families to adopt a completely different name when they moved to a new place (for reasons good and bad). The name they chose could have come from anywhere.

[TatterDel]

Okay so I read the first six pages and couldn't wait to add a post (I'll continue reading in a minute).
I am a Brown who married a Smith... you don't need to go there.
One of the names (on my husband's tree) no one can seem to tell us about is Leatherwood. Some in my husband's family said it was Welsh. I have found it spelled Letherwood on family tree sites.
and you recently post:
"Gaelic Leathar meaning half. This would refer to a land measure."
So I was curious what you (or anyone) might know about Leatherwood.

cont.
And now I edit my post as I have read all the pages.
WOW! you are incredible and so is this thread!

I recently tried to find the origins of our town's name, as the locals can't seem to agree where it came from. One of it's founders was of Irish decent so I followed that rabbit trial only to find similar words & names in Ireland. The name... Tullahoma, TN.

[greenguzzi]

Yep, a good friend of mine had a good ancient Slavic surname, but changed it to a Scottish name because he was suffering prejudice. Weird huh?!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Years ago I knew a gentleman named Gorski who was actually a Gordon. His family had settled in Danzig in the late 17th century whilst engaged in the Baltic fir trade, and had taken the name "Gorski" as an expedient to doing business with the Poles.