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Re: MACKELO
Gypsies are certainly more challenging to research. As you probably know the name ‘Gypsy’ comes from the word 'Egypt' as they were thought to originate there, but now it's generally accepted that they came from India.

Hamish is the Scottish equivalent of James so he certainly has a Scottish first name. It's probable that he or his forebears assimilated culturally and their names evolve into similar sounding, already existing Scottish names.

Ireland, to the best of my knowledge, does not have any or many Gypsies. They do have “Tinkers” (a name supposedly derived from their common occupation of mending tin pots and pans) or “Travelers” which seem to be mostly indigenous people who were displaced during the land depredations. These folks don’t match the common description of Gypsies physically but did caravan around the country and have many of the same stereotypes and until recently were reluctant to settle down in one local.

The only thing I can suggest is to research Romany names that closely resemble your Scottish names in either form or meaning. It’s possible that the Slavic form may have more weight as Southeastern Europe has a significant Slavic influence and most of the Romany entered Europe via this route.

Best of luck …
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Replies

Sean,

Many thanks for all you've done & it's very much appreciated. Most of the Mackelo family were dark skinned with black hair & blue eyes. I think Aly's grandfather (Hamish's dad)'s name was Frank or Fred & he used to travel with his horses, mating his stallion with mares from various farms during his travels.

Just one more thing, where & how do I research Romany names?

Thanks

Mags
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Maybe trying asking someone in this forum:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/gypsy/
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Many thanks.

Mags
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All the best ...glad I could be of help ... cheers!!
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I'd just add one other comment ...the Jews, who shared a similar history as the Gypsies, often have slightly differing names in countries such as Germany, Poland and Russia (though from the same root word). So I'd think that the many Gypsy names closely resemble other names in the country they migrated to ...
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