Help and Rules for the Surname Message Board

Welcome to Behind the Name's surname message board! This board is for the discussion of surnames: their meaning, origin, history, usage, etc.

Top-level messages are arranged in the order they are posted with replies appearing below the original message. Messages that are less than 1 hour old have bright red dates. The colour of the date fades to black as the message ages.

To post a top-level message, click the icon at the top of the page. Fill out your name, the subject of your message, and the text of your message. Click the checkbox if you want to automatically create links from capitalized names in your message text to names in this site's database.

To post a reply, view the message you want to reply to by clicking on it. At the bottom of the page there is a form - fill it out as described in the above paragraph. (If the message is archived there will be no form - you cannot reply to archived messages.)

Most users can post and reply to messages on this board without logging in. However some domains are restricted, meaning you need to sign up for a user account before you can post. Signing up is easy - all you need to do is fill in your desired username and give a valid email address.

Editing messages is only available to those who have logged in. To edit your message, view it and then click the "edit this message" link.

HTML allowed on this board:

• type: <B>bold</B> to get bold
• type: <I>italics</I> to get italics
• type: <HR> to get a horizontal line
• type: <SPAN style="...">some text</SPAN> to modify the look of your text
  • example: <SPAN style="color:green; font-size:larger">large and green</SPAN> gives large and green
  • shortcut 1: <COLOR red>red for example</COLOR> gives red for example
  • shortcut 2: <SIZE smaller>small for example</SIZE> gives small for example
• hyperlinks: text like inter.net.url, http://inter.net.url, or email@addre.ss will be automatically turned into a hyperlink when posted (only registered users)
• images: text like www.net.url/image.jpg or http://www.net.url/image.png will be automatically replaced with the relevant image when posted (only registered users and only if the URL ends in .jpg, .png, .gif or .svg)
• for those familiar with HTML, <CENTER> <MARQUEE> <UL> <OL> <LI> <PRE> and <IMG> tags are also available (only registered users can use the IMG tag)

If you haven't used HTML before, please try it out on the test message board before using it elsewhere!

1. Hateful, malicious or harassing messages and spam are not allowed. New users that start inflammatory topics will be regarded as trolls.

2. Post under only one name.

3. Try to keep debates civil. Everyone has a right to their opinion.

4. Try to make your messages legible. Minimize the netspeak.

5. If you feel someone is breaking the rules, contact this site's administrators. Don't give trolls the attention they crave.

The following users kindly help administer this board: Jim Young, mirfak, Randee15 and Tara C

Since June 11, 2002 there have been...

• 13,113 messages posted
• an average of 2.1 messages posted per day
• 8,642 responses in 4,471 threads
• an average of 1.9 responses per thread

For frequently asked questions about surnames and this site, please see the general FAQ.