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hey everyone,
my name is Joe. i got a question about surnames. my last name is mixed between french and british . and i was wounding what you call a surname that's mixed heritage?
thank you for your time.
Joe:)
my name is Joe. i got a question about surnames. my last name is mixed between french and british . and i was wounding what you call a surname that's mixed heritage?
thank you for your time.
Joe:)
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Replies
I'm not sure if there's an official definition for this kind of surnames, but I guess you can call them 'hybrid surnames' - just like you call 'hybrid word' a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_word).
By the way, what's your surname?
By the way, what's your surname?
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I'd say "a British surname of French origin", or "a French surname of British origin", depending on the direction in which the name travelled.
For example, Newmarch is a genuine English surname, but it derives from the French place name, Neufmarché.
D'Oillenson is French not English, but it started out as the English name Williamson.
On the other hand Latham is an English surname that is found unchanged in France, where it has existed since the 15th century. I'd call that an English name with a French presence.
For example, Newmarch is a genuine English surname, but it derives from the French place name, Neufmarché.
D'Oillenson is French not English, but it started out as the English name Williamson.
On the other hand Latham is an English surname that is found unchanged in France, where it has existed since the 15th century. I'd call that an English name with a French presence.
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thanks Steno and jim young. and to answer your question my last name is dillistone. the reason i ask is my fiction character is mixed ethnicity. his father is american with british and french heritage. the last name by the way is ''PAGE'' but the main character's mom is chinese. but i'm wounding what i write down for his father since his father is american. and i like to add both his british and french heritage in his ethnicity.
This message was edited 1/23/2009, 6:16 PM
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Oh okay, if it is about a fictional character then I think you can choose the definition you prefer, the one that goes better with your writing style - since there's no official definition for this kind of surnames. For example, I think 'mixed heritage surname' doesn't sound bad either, just pick your favorite one :)
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Still about this subject, I think you can find 'mixed heritage surnames' in a lot of European countries and maybe all over the world too, though I don't really know much about non-European surnames..
In Italy, for example, we have a big number of such surnames and they got some very different origins - it depends on the different regions or areas where they are from. Just think of Italian surnames like Giraudo and Rinaudo (from French Giraud and Renaud, Gerald and Reynold in English) or Calò and Macrì (from Greek Kalos and Makris, Good/Fine and Long in English) or Grassia and Sanges (from Spanish Garcia and Sanchez) or Modafferi and Vadalà (from Arab Muzafar and Abdallah) or still Crevatin and Staniscia (from Slavic Hrvatin and Staniša) etc..
In Italy, for example, we have a big number of such surnames and they got some very different origins - it depends on the different regions or areas where they are from. Just think of Italian surnames like Giraudo and Rinaudo (from French Giraud and Renaud, Gerald and Reynold in English) or Calò and Macrì (from Greek Kalos and Makris, Good/Fine and Long in English) or Grassia and Sanges (from Spanish Garcia and Sanchez) or Modafferi and Vadalà (from Arab Muzafar and Abdallah) or still Crevatin and Staniscia (from Slavic Hrvatin and Staniša) etc..
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Fascinating subject: Slavic-German, Lithuanian-Polish, Turkish-Armenian, Irish-English.
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well my family history is we came from french but when the queen order everyone to go to one church they move to england. there even a street in french that has my last name. but i think when they move to england they add a few letters because it was originally dilliston but then in england they add the e in the end. but there even a computer company in europe name dillistone and there is a british famous film director name marcus dillistone. i was originally goes to have my character be french heritage but i wanna to have robin hood be his ancestor and robin hood was british.
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Dilliston(e) is simply a variant of the placename Dilston in Northumberland which was first recorded as Deuelestune and Diueliston. It comes from Old English tun 'farmstead' and a Celtic compound meaning 'black stream' so it is a mixed language name though there's no French in there.
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