I can understand how people cam to have last names such as Solomon, Johnson, Davison, Howard, Smith, Cobbler, Parish, etc. but why colors?
2006-09-04 09:40:58 · 12 answers · asked by ? 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Hey Girl,
It's a great question.
Common names like you mention are French/English based. Others that emigrated to the land where they took the name were usually asked what their name meant, many times it would be taken from a tribal name (My name means John from the Black tribe hence, John Black. ), or from an area they emigrated from (Montenegro = Black Mountain; Greenland = Green; Montblanc= White Head/Mountain) and mostly because early in many countries, the tax man or the immigration official rarely spoke more than one tongue and relied on their best understanding of the language the the immigrant was from.
In the case of Freed Slaves, they rarely wanted any connection with their owner. So they would not take the name of the owner (Roosevelt, Montgomery, Johnson, etc) but would instead take the name of a President/Statesman they had learned of/admired. In lieu of that, "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." So colors were just as good as anything else!
James in San Diego
2006-09-04 09:46:18 · answer #1 · answered by jpr_sd 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
They all became reservoir dogs.
Word names come from English vocabulary words. These are often feminine names, derived from nature, flowers, birds, colors, gemstones, or aspiring traits. Sometimes the spelling of the word is changed for the name. Examples: Lily, Mavis, Amber, Serenity, Sky, Sienna, Sierra, Apple, Ember, Jewel, Jasmine, Coral, Laurel, Lotus, Lavender, Lilac, Blaze, Ridge, Jade, Sunny, Summer, Windy, Autumn, Raven, Blue, Brooke, Fawn, Dawn, Daisy, Rose, Ivy, Harmony, Charisma, Faith, Grace, Hope, Breezy, Rain, Stormy, Scarlett, Lark, Amethyst, Azalea, Cadence, Chance, Indigo, Justice, Maverick, Sage, Savannah, Trey, Violet.
2006-09-04 16:43:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
As far as i know the names history is all ways has something to do with profession or something that you could recognize some one. For example If you take the name Bush that could be somebody who lived near the bush. etc etc
2006-09-04 16:47:37 · answer #3 · answered by Rimo2006 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They either liked those colors, those colors represented something at the time, or they just needed a last name and chose anything.
2006-09-04 16:43:38 · answer #4 · answered by Simmy 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The use of colors for surnames comes from more than one source, though most of them are related
to 1) appearance of a PERSON, esp. the color of their skin, hair or clothing
2) geographical -- the appearance of something in the locale they lived in
Two good examples:
Brown
-derived from complexion, color of hair or garments
http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/b/brown.php
Green
(Locality). The green hill.
http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/g/green.php
2006-09-05 14:07:15 · answer #5 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The color last name from the colors that workmen created for varies paints.
2006-09-04 16:46:47 · answer #6 · answered by rastus7742 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i know how weird, ive always been bothered by this like jack white jack black my mom used to babysit for kids w. the last name green and i had a teacher named mrs.brown in the 6th grade......always wondered what the crap that was all about
2006-09-04 16:43:09 · answer #7 · answered by Heat seeking missile 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
They'd usually be descriptive of someone's occupation or appearance.
2006-09-04 16:44:02 · answer #8 · answered by Joy M 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it had something to with the colour of their clothes.
LOL
I honestly don't know
2006-09-04 16:43:18 · answer #9 · answered by witchfromoz2003 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
easy to remember?
2006-09-04 16:43:15 · answer #10 · answered by hello 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋