Family names are an essential part of everyone's personal history. The story of their evolution is integral to family history and fascinating in its own right. Formed from first names, place names, nicknames and occupations, names allow us to trace the movements of our ancestors from the middle ages to the present day. David Hey shows how, when and where families first got their names, and proves that most families stayed close to their places of origin. Settlement patterns and family groupings can be traced back towards their origin by using national and local records. Family Names and Family History tells anyone interested in tracing their own name how to set about doing so.

Michael, a descendant of a former slave named Matt Threatt born in Tennessee in 1817, goes on a quest to discovering the roots and various branches of the Threatt Family Trees, unfolding the origin and spelling of the prestigious surname "Thweatt". This is the first African- American book ever published on the black Threatt Families in America and their places of Origin. Nearly 61 Years ago, the 1969 written published work of Rev. Silas "Allen" Thweatt, Chronicled the bloodline of his Indo-European ancestors who carried this surname from England. It is this book which chronicles the early life, Migration, and rich history of the early black Threatt Family Bloodlines.

Traces the origins of nearly 3,000 surnames found on the eastern Canadian island, along with sometimes extensive information on etymology, genealogy, and Newfoundland history. Introduces the alphabetical catalogue with a survey of the history and linguistic origins, which include English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, Syrian, Lebanese, and Micmac. Appends lists of names by frequency and frequency by origin, and surnames recorded before 1700. First published in 1977, reprinted four times, and here revised with additions and corrections and reset in a more convenient format. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book is about the influence of coincidence and serendipity on genealogical research, the chance combination of events over which the researcher has no control but which nevertheless guides him to a fortuitous discovery.