Lol. If I put my last name into UK's map, the map basically turns red.
Map of Surnames in Europe
101–110 of 197 posts
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#102Anyone else found a surname with just 1 "place"? Started looking av UK and tried a few I could think of. I'm from Sweden so I went for the obvious ones like Smith, Black, White and then just for laughs continued with colors (oops, that was UK so colours, i suppose). Went with Red, Blue and so on, was surprised by how many Pinks there were but then hit "gold" (1861 places) with Magenta, one place!
Poland for me. 1 result, almost smack dab in the middle.
Romania has none. The rest all seem to have some in them. Some more than others.
UK though. lol... map turn red.
Edit: I'm in Canada for context.
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#103This seems to have answered a longstanding question I had about French surnames. I had come across a presentation given by a person bearing the name "La Rochefoucauld" and I always wondered if she was descended from the eponymous noble family or related to the famous writer. This website tells me that in France the name "La Rochefoucauld" is uncommon but not rare so I guess the answer to that question is "maybe". I a…
It's one of the most ancient and illustrious noble families in France. There's virtually no chance somebody would bear than name without an actual relationship to the familly. They'd risk litigation, for one.
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#104This website is overloaded with adds. It almost feels like a scam. Based on the fact that almost all other comments are not talking about it, I guess at least one of the following hypotheses is true (if not all of them): - most people here use an efficient addblocker - The website changed since its first appearance on the first page (maximize revenue?) - some comments are sponsored - on mobile it feels overwhelming b…
Strangely, I see no ads, and I don't use any ad blockers. Maybe it only shows ads to people in certain regions?
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#105This website is overloaded with adds. It almost feels like a scam. Based on the fact that almost all other comments are not talking about it, I guess at least one of the following hypotheses is true (if not all of them): - most people here use an efficient addblocker - The website changed since its first appearance on the first page (maximize revenue?) - some comments are sponsored - on mobile it feels overwhelming b…
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Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#106Anyone else found a surname with just 1 "place"? Started looking av UK and tried a few I could think of. I'm from Sweden so I went for the obvious ones like Smith, Black, White and then just for laughs continued with colors (oops, that was UK so colours, i suppose). Went with Red, Blue and so on, was surprised by how many Pinks there were but then hit "gold" (1861 places) with Magenta, one place!
My wifes maiden name is unique, several generations ago (early 1900s or so) her ancestors took their German surname and added a French La to the beginning. Won't show up on any of these maps becuase they we are in the US.
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#107It is sad that most, if not all, of the databases don’t take into account accents and other phonetic signs. My last name is completely different with and without and accent. Actually in my case different languages, without accent is a Spanish last name and with the accent is Catalan. That means that people like me have to keep record of our real names. Also curious that databases have been one step backwards, in Spai…
> ... in Spain Catholic churches kept record of all the babies born in their towns with correct spelling and that is lost now with modern technologies. I found this to be the opposite. My church record contains a hispanicized version of my name, whereas the government has the proper one. Reason given was that the church wouldn't admit certain regional spellings. Also, acute accents have been recorded in the census da…
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Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#108Very neat. My ancestors are not European, they are Lebanese, but I was able to find their last name in the countries they emigrated to long ago in Europe, and the cities make sense, although there's more than I thought in certain countries! For those interested, depending on where you live, you can access Ancestry.com through the Public Library for free. In Ottawa, that was case, although as of Jan. 1, 2022, you have…
Have you tried looking into the Ellis Island records for your Great Grandfather? https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/
I was able to find some of my ancestors who came to the US from those records. People usually came by ship and New York City was one of the main points of entries to the US.
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#109Anyone else found a surname with just 1 "place"? Started looking av UK and tried a few I could think of. I'm from Sweden so I went for the obvious ones like Smith, Black, White and then just for laughs continued with colors (oops, that was UK so colours, i suppose). Went with Red, Blue and so on, was surprised by how many Pinks there were but then hit "gold" (1861 places) with Magenta, one place!
My wifes maiden name is unique, several generations ago (early 1900s or so) her ancestors took their German surname and added a French La to the beginning. Won't show up on any of these maps becuase they we are in the US.
Simple fix is simple then? Remove the La and just use the original surname.
I've had to do something similar of sorts in tracking my family tree in the past. Long story short is this: Last names change, but bloodlines don't.
Re: Map of Surnames in Europe
#110Where does it obtain data in countries without registries (such as France)?