New Post
Search
Help[Surname] Re: American surnames?
in reply to a message by Jim Young
I'm sure I've seen examples of Native Americans with surnames in their mother tongues; unfortunately I didn't make a note of them. These would be genuine American surnames. Most Native Americans have English, French or Spanish surnames today. Some Lakota clearly have surnames that are translations, or partial translations, of original non-English names, but names like Bull and Sky can hardly be classed as exclusively American.
There is a class of surname that, arguably, has been altered so that it could be called naturalised American. I'm thinking of names like Zabriskie, which is Polish in origin - Zabrzewski, if my memory isn't letting me down again - but has become a new name which English speakers can handle. To call such names American is to ignore their history, but they were reborn in the USA.
America doesn't end at the Rio Bravo, so here's a couple of American surnames; Guarani which is Brazilian, and Vicun~a, which is Chilean.
There is a class of surname that, arguably, has been altered so that it could be called naturalised American. I'm thinking of names like Zabriskie, which is Polish in origin - Zabrzewski, if my memory isn't letting me down again - but has become a new name which English speakers can handle. To call such names American is to ignore their history, but they were reborn in the USA.
America doesn't end at the Rio Bravo, so here's a couple of American surnames; Guarani which is Brazilian, and Vicun~a, which is Chilean.
1