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Re: Jarvis is a White last name (so I've heard).
in reply to a message by AJ
Jarvis is certainly an English surname, and your suggestion is one possible explanation. I believe that the majority of Afro-Caribbean people have some European ancestry, and it's likely that some adopted a European surname from that part of their lineage.
It is probable that your African forebears did not have a surname, though some West African peoples, such as the Manding and the Fulbe (Fulani) had clan names. Of course they were not permitted to retain their African names, or anything of their African culture,in the New World.
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