De-Anglicisation of Names

[slohairt]

ok im back again ... ham ... my buddy seems to be welsh but may be irish ... any ideas on the who what and where ...

Do you mean the surname Ham or Hamm? To the best of my knowledge, it is Anglo-Saxon and topographical in origin, from ham, meaning 'homestead'.

[slohairt]

I have a couple for you...Peek, and Brooks.

Both names I would say are Anglo-Saxon and topographical. One who 'lived by a peak' and one who 'lived by a brook'.

[slohairt]

Miller - a "trade name" - is muillear in Gaelic and would sound much like as it does in Scots or English, so Miller could well be the Anglicisation.

Indeed. Some could have been Mac an Muilleir.

[slohairt]

Great thread indeed! This stuff is so cool!
My 5xG grampa sort of showed me how it works, archivally: He was a livestock trade-cargoer, plying a shoreline circuit from his hometown of Machrahanish, to Oban, to Port Logan, to north-coastal Wales, to Co. Antrim in Ireland, and back up around . . anyway, post-Culloden, he began quoting his name as "James Wright" instead of Hamish MacIntyre, as he'd been christened, depending on where he was trading, and/or who he was speaking to; when he quit the open water & retired to the Welsh town of Corwen, he was known to all his neighbors by the name of Wright, even though the family maintained the auld name in their home, and entered all the new children's surname as MacIntyre in the family bible. When his sons emigrated to Massachusetts 20 years later, they were registered as Wrights, dropping the original surname altogether.
Rather, what has confused my researching has been the maternal name of "Burnham"; it would seem to break down quite easily as "home by (or at) the stream", but it's oddly absent from all Scottish & most Irish roles I've found, the closest being the Scottish place name of Birnam . .
Any insight?

Hard to say. The etymology is definitely Anglo-Saxon, 'homestead by the stream'. This could place it the Lowlands of Scotland as well as England. Most sources don't list it as a Scottish name as it simply may not have been a very common name or was located in a transitional border area.

Incidentally Hamish MacIntyre would be originally Seumas Mac an t-Saoir, meaning James, son of the carpenter. (pronounced SHAME-US MAC AN TEER)

[Downix]

Now I am curious about my own surname of Downes. While some reports it is based on Downs as in a grassy field, others say it is Son of Dun. Hard to figure out when our family tree research ends abruptly in the early 1800's due to confusion (two men in the same town with the same name).

[hagridhorse]

my name is macmillan son of the tonured one my clan goes back 1000 years we are from the celtic clergy the tonure was at the front not in the middle

[slohairt]

Now I am curious about my own surname of Downes. While some reports it is based on Downs as in a grassy field, others say it is Son of Dun. Hard to figure out when our family tree research ends abruptly in the early 1800's due to confusion (two men in the same town with the same name).

Usually the English topographical element Down is derived from the Celtic Dun meaning 'hill fort'.

[slohairt]

my name is macmillan son of the tonured one my clan goes back 1000 years we are from the celtic clergy the tonure was at the front not in the middle

Mac Maoláin (IRISH)
Mac Maolain (SCOTTISH GAELIC)

Sometimes it is aspirated as Mac Mhaolain (pronounced MAC VAIL-AUN or MAC WAIL-AUN) and sometimes it can actually be the name Mac Gille Mhaoil, meaning 'son of the servant of the tonsured one'. (Pronounced MAC GILL-A VEEL or MAC GILL-A WEEL.)

You're right, the old tonsure method of the clergy of the Celtic church was the front portion of the hair. (Handy if you were going bald!) Supposedly this was derived from Druidic practice. Irish missionaries apparently received much flak for this hairstyle whilst preaching on the Continent.

[Downix]

Usually the English topographical element Down is derived from the Celtic Dun meaning 'hill fort'.

Which begs the question, where do those Downes from Ireland, Wales and Scotland come from?

But was not aware of Dun being a hill fort, I shall take note of that. Still, to figure out which Noah Downs was the father to my g-g-g-grandfather Thomas.

[slohairt]

Which begs the question, where do those Downes from Ireland, Wales and Scotland come from?

But was not aware of Dun being a hill fort, I shall take note of that. Still, to figure out which Noah Downs was the father to my g-g-g-grandfather Thomas.

In Ireland, the surname Down(e)(s) can be an Anglicisation of Ó Duinn, which means 'descendant of Donn'. Donn is the Irish word for 'brown'. On rare occasions, it is an Anglicisation of Ó Dubháin, meaning 'descendant of Dubhán', a personal name meaning 'little dark one'.