What does your last name mean?

Question

My last name 'Allis' means 'follower of God' or something Christian-ish.
[Other last names in my blood-line include 'Walker'=someone who treads on cloth to thin it, and 'Watson'=son of Watt/Walter].
If you don't know - have a search on google for 'last name origins' and you might find out!!

So what does your last name mean? And what does it tell you about the occupation of members of your ancestors, or where they lived?

Answer 1

Hoad - keeper of hogs...

Answer 2

Last name meanings are totally meaningless.
WHY would I say that? Because you can go to many different sites online, and find totally contradictory information. That should tell you right there that what a name means (or where it comes from) is absolutely speculation or guessing, since they have no proof of their conclusions.
Many people find surname meanings to be a fascinating subject, which is their option. Good genealogical research and methods are based in documentation and proof, and avoids speculation. You either ARE or ARE NOT the descendent of any particular person... no maybes about it. You may find that what you think is a family name is not even correct. In the process, you find proof of what they did, their homes, many proven glimpses into their lives and what kind of person they really were. Will you trace your lineage into the 1400's? Probably not, maybe so.
If you only work back 5 generations, it is more factual than what you will find on "meanings" sites. AND you will be the one to have the satisfaction of knowing how good your own research is.

Answer 3

A lot of people's last name do tell you what their ancestor's occupation was when they took a surname. People didn't have surnames until the first part of the last millenium.

However, they don't tell you much about genealogy and not necessarily about your ethnic origins.

Not everyone with the same surname comes from the same root. There was more than one Walter than had sons, more than one walker that tread on cloths.

Answer 4

My last name is Smith--the most common surname in the United States, England, and Scotland. A distant ancestor could have been a village smithy, or the family could have adopted the name upon entry into the United States or else modified it from the German "Schmidt". I've only traced the Smiths back to my great, great grandfather since 1870 US census records record that my paternal great grandfather's father lived in New York. It's the perfect name for anonymity, and it also ensures that everyone judges me by my deeds rather than by my name!

Answer 5

Mitchell and this is Wikipedia defenition but I have never went by this to do the research of my family name but here it goes."Michael or Micha'el is a given name that comes from Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל, meaning "Who is like God?".[1] There are various forms of the name: Arabic: ميخائيل; Latin: Michael; Septuagint Greek: Μιχαηλ or Mikhaēl; Portuguese or Spanish: Miguel; Russian: Михаил or Mikhail; Italian: Michele; Dutch: Michiel; Armenian: Միքայել or Mikayel; Catalan: Miquel; French: Michel

Michael is a popular name in the United States, and has been the first or second most popular name given to male babies in the U.S. for each year since 1954.[2] It is in the top 50 most popular boys' names in England and Wales.[3] The name has been popular in Orthodox Christian countries, and was borne by several rulers of the Byzantine and Russian Empires. In English it is sometimes shortened to Mike or, especially in Ireland, Mick. The name first appears in the Bible, Numbers 13 verse 13, where Sethur the son of Michael is one of twelve spies sent into the Land of Canaan.

The Archangel Michael, referred to later in the Bible (Daniel 12 verse 1), is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. 29 September is the feast day of the three archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. "Saint Michael" can also refer to Michael HyDinh-Ho and Michael My Huy Nguyen, two of the Vietnamese Martyrs.

The female form of Michael is Michelle or Michaela, although there are females with the name of Michael, such as Michael Learned.

Surnames that come from Michael include Mitchell, Micallef and Carmichael.

Answer 6

My surname is Hepworth. It comes from a village of that name next to Holmfirth (Last of the Summer Wine location) near Huddersfiekd in West Yorkshire, England.

I once bought by mail "The Book of Hepworths" for my father's birthday, an American con-trick which claimed that the name came from a place in Suffolk, in spite of the fact that 90% of all the Hepworths listed were in a small part of West Yorkshire!

The village name means "Place (or homestead) where hips (rose hips) grow".

Answer 7

My last name is Cross which is a shorter form of the Italian name Crossetti. Both roughly mean "ye who bears the Cross of the Lord"

Answer 8

The surname I was born with is Bowman. I used to think it referred to the occupation of bow-making but in doing research into my genealogy, I found it is more likely referring to a skill....archery.

Answer 9

I always found it ironic that my first name means "Generous" and my maiden name meant "Stingy" or "Miser". My married name is boring. It's a habitational surname in Gaelic that links us to coal mines.

Answer 10

Surnames' supposed meanings somewhere back in time have no particular meaning for me.

Genealogy research uses surnames as identifiers.

Answer 11

I can only guess. I thinkit means to lead . My last name is Fore. I believe we were common folk who performed menial tasks.