2007-07-31 11:21:10 · 5 answers · asked by ,,,,,,, 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
just to illustrate a point.. a woman marries and take hubby's name. It says nothing about her ancestry. Now.. take it the next level, and remember that names are acquired in many ways. Adoption is another way.. also for African Americans, a high percentage have surnames that belonged to the slave owner.
In looking at your heritage... you are equal parts of your parents, but ALSO equal parts of grand parents, gr grandparents, etc. Go back several generations, and you have 16 gr gr grandparents. Assume that one of those was a missionary from England with that surname.. and the other 15 were all "pure" Jamaican (however that might be defined). If this couple had a son, who then married a Jamaican woman, their children have and pass down the surname. YOU still have 15 other ancestors of different surnames, and of different backgrounds.
The condensed version is no... absolutely. You can not tell anything about your heritage by a name. The accurate way to learn about you, is to identify who each of your ancestors were, and where they came from. We'd love to help you with that, if we can entice you!!
2007-07-31 15:31:43 · answer #1 · answered by wendy c 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Clarke is an English name, and may have descended from an ancestor long ago. Most people have all sorts of mixed ancestry if you dig far enough back.
In the times of slavery, slaves were sometimes known by the name of the master / owner as a means of identification, in the same way that a child now takes the surname of the father.
To be certain of your own heritage, you would need to do a genealogical search - you may learn things that would surprise you
2007-07-31 21:31:00 · answer #2 · answered by bluebell 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Clarke is an English name; but it will tell you nothing in regards to your ancestors, whether black, red, white, whatever; what countries your ancestors came from, or anything.
Some of my ancestors came from Jamaica; I'm about as mixed as can be, but mostly white.
2007-07-31 19:33:58 · answer #3 · answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope
2007-07-31 18:29:36 · answer #4 · answered by Ray D dog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible you are mixed with other races but your name won't tell you anything.
2007-07-31 19:07:47 · answer #5 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋