[Surname] Re: Coltrane
in reply to a message by Menke
Coltran/Coltrane is a surname of South-West Scotland. In its earliest recorded form it was Acoltrain, one of several Galloway surnames which had an initial A, now discarded. One theory about this is that the A is the same as the Welsh Ap ("son"), another that it is the same as the old Irish Ua ("grandson", now O). I subscribe to the latter theory. I suspect that Acoltrain was originally the Irish surname O Coltarain. There are lots of Irish names in Galloway, that part of Scotland closest to Ireland. In Ireland O Coltarain either died out or was changed to Colter and Coulter. As far as the meaning is concerned, O Coltarain denotes descent from a man named Coltaran. This given name is made up of the word coltar plus a diminutive ending. In modern Irish coltar means the coulter, or cutting part of a plough. I'm not at all sure that this is the meaning here.
As Lisa Simpson plays the tenor sax I'm sure the cat must have been named after the late John Coltrane, one of the most famous tenor saxophonists in the Jazz genre. Is this the musician?
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Messages

Coltrane  ·  Gianfranco E. Tubino Bryce  ·  12/21/2004, 1:27 PM
Re: Coltrane  ·  Menke  ·  12/22/2004, 8:13 AM
Re: Coltrane  ·  Jim Young  ·  12/22/2004, 1:10 PM
Re: Coltrane  ·  Melinda Elliott  ·  5/29/2018, 1:57 PM
Re: Coltrane  ·  GETB  ·  12/28/2004, 3:41 PM