Re: Patterson
in reply to a message by Jim Young
I'd just add ... try this site ...
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&fn=&ln=Patterson
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&fn=&ln=Patterson
Replies
I didn't know about the Irish one. Looking it up in MacLysaght's "Surnames of Ireland" I read that Patterson is "absurdly used" for Ó Casáin because casán is the Irish word for path, so Patterson = "path son". Such mistranslations are not uncommon with Irish surnames.