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Re: help
in reply to a message by kim
Whatley I think from what I have learnt from my love for ethymology means "field of wheat" refering to a farmer who worked there, Holland makes obvious reference to the country but I wouldn't know what it means in itself... I would bet something which would fit Holland's description be it even nowadays or the day it was named so (and from the perspective of those who gave it that name), for the etymology of berry refer to any etymological dictionary for it's a direct cognate of an English common word (acording to my dictionary it goes back to being akin to "basi" a gothic word for berries in general) Maclain is "son of Clain" Clain is a surname from which I have yet to investigate... Hughes seems to have something in common with "Hugh" sorry for not being of much help, it's the first time I try helping someone in here and it's cause it's the first time I feel capable
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for kim and gianfranco... Hughes is 'son of Hugh'. If you want to know what Hugh means, see www.behindthename.com and search for Hugh.

Holland is another name of the Netherlands and it consists of hol and land . The latter has obviously the same meaning as the English word land (=country, field). The first component is the Dutch word for 'hollow' in this case, probably because the Netherlands (you could also read "nether lands") lay quite low compared to the sea level and large parts, especially in the west of the country lay lower than the sea level.

About Wheatley and Berry i agree with you and about McClain i have to add that Clain is a surname that derived from a firstname again, like most Mac... names do.

Collins means 'son of Colin'.

About Bates :

This week's surname is: BATES 2003-11-03

Variants: Bate,Batey,Batty,Batts,Bats,Bateson,Baits,Baites,Baytes

An English and Scottish surname derived from the pet form of the first name Bartholomew (Middle English, Bat(t)e). Bartholomew was a common medieval name – from the Hebrew meaning ‘son of Talmai’ (abounding in the furrows). Another example of the root is Bateman – a servant of Bartholomew. Other regional derivatives of Bartholomew include Bate from Cornwall, Batty from Yorkshire and Batey from Northumberland.

The Bates surname may also derive from an occupational name for a boatman – from the Old English word ‘bat’ meaning bate. Yet another source originates from the Old Norse word ‘bati’ means the ‘dweller by a fat pasture.’ A variant of this is the surname Batt.

Early examples of the surname recorded include Roger Bate (1275) from the Subsidy Rolls: Worcester, plus Thomas del Bate (1270), and William of Ye Bate (1297) from the Subsidy Rolls: Yorkshire.

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more for kim...yes, Blagburn is from Blackburn and this surname is thus a toponym, meaning your ancestor Blagburn came from Blackburn. This is the same for Horton. I have to add that Colin is a pet form of Nicholas. If you want to know the meaning of Nicholas, you'll can find it at www.behindthename.com (this is the correct link, i think i posted a bad link earlier)
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I thought you had gone in advance when I saw your excellent translation for "holland" but here I have another explanation I got from another of my favourite webpages... Wikipedia... (I was searching for English demonyms for the United States other from "american") With less chatter and more aime here I paste what I've found:

Holland (part of the Netherlands; the term is often used to refer to the country as a whole): Germanic "holt (i.e. wooded) land" (often incorrectly regarded as meaning "hollow [i.e. marsh] land")

Oops... My source says yours is incorrect... But I wouldn't bet so... Most probably both are equally correct... From my experience with etymology only if you do field research, and even there, you can be 100% sure of your options... Both will work for me... Now I will understand Holland as something like "Hollow forests" or "Forests of the valley" :D:p well... Bye everyone...
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