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ArchivesRe: family surnames
in reply to a message by Emma
Honeycutt
English: habitational name from either of two places in Devon named Hunnacott, from either the Old English personal name Huna or Old English hunig ‘honey’ + cot ‘cottage’. There is also a place named Huncoat in Lancashire, which has the same origin, but the distribution of the surname in England suggests that it probably did not contribute to the surname.
Ames
English: from the Old French and Middle English personal name Amys, Amice, which is either directly from Latin amicus ‘friend’, used as a personal name, or via a Late Latin derivative of this, Amicius.
German: of uncertain origin. Perhaps a nickname for an active person, from a Germanic word related to Old High German amazzig ‘busy’. Compare modern German Ameise ‘ant’.
Harris
English and Welsh (very common in southern England and South Wales): patronymic from the medieval English personal name Harry, pet form of Henry.
This name is also well established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. In some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, both Harris and Harrison can be Anglicized forms of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha.
Greek: reduced form of the Greek personal name Kharalambos, composed of the elements khara ‘joy’ + lambein ‘to shine’.
Jewish: Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish names.
Brown
English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.
Ing
English: from the Old Norse and Middle English personal name Ing(a), a short form of various names with the first element Ing- (see Ingle).
English: habitational name from an Essex place name, Ing, which survives with various manorial affixes in the names Fryerning, Ingatestone, Ingrave, and Margaretting, and which is probably from an Old English tribal name Geingas ‘people of the district’.
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname from Yiddish ing ‘young’.
Chinese : possibly a variant of Wu 1.
Chinese : possibly a variant of Wu 4.
For more info go here ...http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&ln=&fn=&yr=1920
English: habitational name from either of two places in Devon named Hunnacott, from either the Old English personal name Huna or Old English hunig ‘honey’ + cot ‘cottage’. There is also a place named Huncoat in Lancashire, which has the same origin, but the distribution of the surname in England suggests that it probably did not contribute to the surname.
Ames
English: from the Old French and Middle English personal name Amys, Amice, which is either directly from Latin amicus ‘friend’, used as a personal name, or via a Late Latin derivative of this, Amicius.
German: of uncertain origin. Perhaps a nickname for an active person, from a Germanic word related to Old High German amazzig ‘busy’. Compare modern German Ameise ‘ant’.
Harris
English and Welsh (very common in southern England and South Wales): patronymic from the medieval English personal name Harry, pet form of Henry.
This name is also well established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. In some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, both Harris and Harrison can be Anglicized forms of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha.
Greek: reduced form of the Greek personal name Kharalambos, composed of the elements khara ‘joy’ + lambein ‘to shine’.
Jewish: Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish names.
Brown
English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.
Ing
English: from the Old Norse and Middle English personal name Ing(a), a short form of various names with the first element Ing- (see Ingle).
English: habitational name from an Essex place name, Ing, which survives with various manorial affixes in the names Fryerning, Ingatestone, Ingrave, and Margaretting, and which is probably from an Old English tribal name Geingas ‘people of the district’.
Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname from Yiddish ing ‘young’.
Chinese : possibly a variant of Wu 1.
Chinese : possibly a variant of Wu 4.
For more info go here ...http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&ln=&fn=&yr=1920
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Replies
Just to add a bit to the Chinese Ing.
Wu is the Mandarin form, Ng (or Ing) is the Cantonese. These versions are written with the same characters and have the same origin and meaning. It's just that words can be pronounced very differently in the different versions of spoken Chinese.
Wu 1 is the name of an old city state, now represented by Kiangsu province, where Shanghai is situated. So we can identify this as a surname from a place name.
Wu 2 incorporates the numeral five (5) and it's anybody's guess what that means.
Wu is the Mandarin form, Ng (or Ing) is the Cantonese. These versions are written with the same characters and have the same origin and meaning. It's just that words can be pronounced very differently in the different versions of spoken Chinese.
Wu 1 is the name of an old city state, now represented by Kiangsu province, where Shanghai is situated. So we can identify this as a surname from a place name.
Wu 2 incorporates the numeral five (5) and it's anybody's guess what that means.
1