Drougge/Droga and Knaut/Kneut
I had some Waloon ancestors whose surname was Droga (which become Drougge in Sweden). Anyone who knows what that means?

I also had a Polish ancestor - strange thing is, he didn't have a Polish surname. His surname was something like Knaut or Kneut (I only know it was pr. "knoyt" (with oy as in "boy").

I am Swedish and my ancestors are from Norrbotten in the northwest.
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Replies

OK, thanks anyway. Nice of you!nm
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http://list.genealogy.net/mailman/archiv/sachsen-anhalt-l/2004-01/msg00036.html
http://list.genealogy.net/mailman/archiv/mecklenburg-l/2003-03/msg00119.html

Seems like a noble German family dating back from the Late Medieval Ages from a family of knights. The links are in German, so maybe Andy can help you from here. I'm too tired right now, i'm sorry.

Droga seems to be Polish too. It is a Polish surname, but Walloon? Are you sure about that? Apart from not appearing French or Flemish, I only hit sites about drugs at Google.
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Knaut/KneutI'm sorry, but I haven't found much. Knaut as a German surname can ne be from Middle High German "knode, knote" (nodule), used for a small, crude and dumpy person.
(This is taken from Familiennamen, Herkunft und Bedeutung, bearbeitet von Rosa und Volker Kohlheim, Dudenverlag Mannheim 2000)

Andy ;—)
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Cognates (Re: Dr...)Knecht... Knight... Something to do with Knaut or Kneut? Just guessing, but probably... Anyway... "Droga" is a Spanish word for "drugs" which in English as we all know include remedies... If both the English word and the Spanish words are look-alikes... I wouldn't be surprised that a Waloon word existed with the same common origin (Latin and/or Greek I guess) being in effect identical to the Spanish outcome of this common root... This is just mumbling meditation... I will let decisions on others... Bye.
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There was an old Germanic name DROGO, one of Charlemagne's sons bore this name. It is said to mean "ghost." In French it became Drieu, which gives us the English surname Drew.
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