Bastardised Surnames

[Pannonius]

Is it pronounced she+he?

 

[classical_hero]

No, but that is what we jokingly call him.

BTW, the name is not an English name but it is Irish, so is pronounced differently.

 

[Pannonius]

No, but that is what we jokingly call him.

BTW, the name is not an English name but it is Irish, so is pronounced differently.

That would be a great surname for a trans-sexual.

 

[classical_hero]

Definitely. It is pronounced, "Shay". Irish names are weird, Just lik some Welsh names, such as this actor's name, "Ioan Gruffudd". How do you pronounce his name?

 

[Pannonius]

Is it yo+un?

 

[classical_hero]

I was actually referring to his last name. But his first name is correct as you said it.

 

[Cuchullain]

I would guess his last name is pronounced "Griffith".

 

[Cuchullain]

Ahmadinadumbnuts!

My last name is not even close to the proper original spelling (see custom title). But when you have Germans signing in illiterate Irish at ports of entry names are bound to get butchered.

Most of those "botch jobs" at Ellis Island were more or less phonetic, though. The Old Irish was known for being a decidedly non-phonetic language. I would love to to change my last name back from the curren six letters, to the original sixteen, but more as a curiosity than anything else.

Somehow, I can't imagine most other Americans being able to pronounce it: OhEachthighearna.

 

[classical_hero]

I would guess his last name is pronounced "Griffith".

Correct.

 

[JohnRM]

My family has Dutch and German origins. I don't care.

I am who I am and my name has very little to do with that.

 

[Rossiya]

I'm very happy with the stories people have come up with; very interesting. Upon further thought, I think everyone has their surname bastardised, and perhaps a better word for it is simply evolution, as it can be bastardised several times at times of change, such as migration.

 

[Gooblah]

I'm 2nd generation, so nothing too terrible has occured...

well, the worst thing that ever happened to mine was when I was in Cub Scouts (WHICH SUCKED), they would capitalize the third letter of my surname, since it began with De..they assumed it was French, I guess. Oddly enough, I've been studying French for the past while.

 

[dannyshenanigan]

My name is of German origin meaning "bell ringer." There used to be an umlaut in it that I like to put back in because it looks and sounds cooler.

 

[Rossiya]

My name is of German origin meaning "bell ringer." There used to be an umlaut in it that I like to put back in because it looks and sounds cooler.

Gloeckner?

 

[dannyshenanigan]

Gloeckner?

Close, but in the Rhineland it is more commonly spelled as Klöckner (or Kloeckner)

 

[raketooy]

My surname is Pere, and it is of strictly Finnish origin. It is a place name somewhere in western Finland.
It is just so different than the usual Finnish surname that tend to be longer and a) usually take the form of [some word]+[-nen or -la] or b) are some easily understandable words referring to nature or c) are in Swedish.
It has no meaning in modern Finnish, actually it doesn't even sound very Finnish, and it's quite rare, so many think that it is of foreign origin (e.g. French père=father), but it is indeed Finnish.

 

[Rocko_el_loco]

My surname hasn't been bastardized at all, but the thing is that i have no idea where my ancestors could be from, since my surname is apparently common in Spain, Italy, and the Canary Islands.

 

[Sofista]

What's this "all surnames were bastardized" trend? Mine hasn't changed in 800 years.

Rocko: try mention it, maybe it is possible to figure.

Trivia: in Madrid still live the Escarlate family, descendants from Italian musician Scarlatti. Now that surname was translated literally.

 

[echinococcus]

Original it might have been 'Schäfer' - quite a common name meaning 'sheperd'.

Schaffer is not so uncommon though

My own nomination slightly off topic: Windsor!!

 

[Traitorfish]

Most of those "botch jobs" at Ellis Island were more or less phonetic, though. The Old Irish was known for being a decidedly non-phonetic language. I would love to to change my last name back from the curren six letters, to the original sixteen, but more as a curiosity than anything else.

Somehow, I can't imagine most other Americans being able to pronounce it: OhEachthighearna.

I sympathsie... Like I said, I'm properly "Miadhacháin", which I have no idea how to pronounce...