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ArchivesHaving a lot of difficulty finding the meaning of my last name
Hello my name is Katherine and I have always wanted to know what my last name truly means. My parents and I have been searching the internet for sometime and have had no luck!
My last name is both Dutch and Jewish and is spelt Turfryer...however Iam pretty sure it was changed after the war from Turfrijer!!! I have no surviving ancestors that I am aware of and would love to know the true meaning of my name.
Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.
My last name is both Dutch and Jewish and is spelt Turfryer...however Iam pretty sure it was changed after the war from Turfrijer!!! I have no surviving ancestors that I am aware of and would love to know the true meaning of my name.
Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.
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Replies
hey i was just wondering what my last name meant... HALLAC, its turkish if that helps!
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hey can you please tell me the meaning of my last name???
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Hey can someone please tell what my last name means I can't find it anywhere I only found out what my first name means can you help me???
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What makes you say your surname is both Dutch and Jewish? Unless you research it back over the generations you can't tell the origin of your surname by the family tale of being one ethnicity or another - you might be mainly descended from Dutch Jews but they may have married a lone Englishman or taken on the name of a benefactor or friend. Surnames in the US are often little mysteries just waiting to be solved rather than straightforward indications of origin.
I had an aunt who decided that family surname Sowards was German and meant 'pig farmer' - she based this on nothing more than what she 'heard' in the name. I researched it all the way back to the 1600's and corrected her, it's a Devonshire form of the very English Seaward 'guardian of the sea' (more likely someone fool enough to live at sea's edge where they get the brunt of all the storms off the Atlantic but nevermind ;o) Another strain of the family was thrilled to be descended from the Randolphs of VA - except that they aren't - they're descended from some guy who took on the name Randolph in the 1800's - probably because he was mixed race or had committed a crime and was giving himself a fresh start in a new place with a good respectable name. Doing the donkey work of gathering info generation by generation and tracing the name that way is really the only way to find out one's true origins and the origins of various names.
Turfryer reminded me at once of the Oxfordshire surname Turfrey/Turfry/Turfree, etc. It's very English now but started out in the form Thorfrey 'Thor peace', Thor being the Norse god of thunder and fridr being the old Norse for 'peace'. You can easily see out Thorfridr could be phonetically corrupted over centuries into Turfryer. I know of no Dutch or Yiddish names that are remniscient of it though. Look on genealogy sites for variants of your name like Turfry, Turfrey, etc. and you may stumble onto a distant relative who has made researching the origins of your surname their life's work and are thrilled to share it with you ;o)
Devon
I had an aunt who decided that family surname Sowards was German and meant 'pig farmer' - she based this on nothing more than what she 'heard' in the name. I researched it all the way back to the 1600's and corrected her, it's a Devonshire form of the very English Seaward 'guardian of the sea' (more likely someone fool enough to live at sea's edge where they get the brunt of all the storms off the Atlantic but nevermind ;o) Another strain of the family was thrilled to be descended from the Randolphs of VA - except that they aren't - they're descended from some guy who took on the name Randolph in the 1800's - probably because he was mixed race or had committed a crime and was giving himself a fresh start in a new place with a good respectable name. Doing the donkey work of gathering info generation by generation and tracing the name that way is really the only way to find out one's true origins and the origins of various names.
Turfryer reminded me at once of the Oxfordshire surname Turfrey/Turfry/Turfree, etc. It's very English now but started out in the form Thorfrey 'Thor peace', Thor being the Norse god of thunder and fridr being the old Norse for 'peace'. You can easily see out Thorfridr could be phonetically corrupted over centuries into Turfryer. I know of no Dutch or Yiddish names that are remniscient of it though. Look on genealogy sites for variants of your name like Turfry, Turfrey, etc. and you may stumble onto a distant relative who has made researching the origins of your surname their life's work and are thrilled to share it with you ;o)
Devon
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well, this site is for first names. not surnames..which is your last name. I'm sure there are sites on surnames that can help you
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You are correct, sort of
Mike C has developed another site specifically devoted to surnames: http://surnames.behindthename.com/
However, people are allowed to post questions regarding their surname origins here as well. BtS is small, and isn't updated as often as BtN is; additionally, the message board isn't as active. So people might find asking about the origins of their surname is easier here, and they might receive a response faster too.
Miranda
Mike C has developed another site specifically devoted to surnames: http://surnames.behindthename.com/
However, people are allowed to post questions regarding their surname origins here as well. BtS is small, and isn't updated as often as BtN is; additionally, the message board isn't as active. So people might find asking about the origins of their surname is easier here, and they might receive a response faster too.
Miranda
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