Surname Saturday - "Surnames & Their Meanings"

"Have you ever wondered about the meaning of your last name or where your family surname came from? What your ancestors did, how they looked or where they lived? Surname meanings can sometimes tell a story about your family, one handed down for hundreds of years. By tracing the possible origin of your last name, you can learn more about the medieval ancestors who first bore the surname and, ultimately, handed it down to you"  from About.com

If you go to About.com there is surname & its meaning section. Unfortunately you will find a very limited list of surnames and their meanings. But if you are lucky your surname (s) may be there.  I looked up all my surnames I have and not find one that was on their list. I did find where you can make a request to find out about your surname-  Request a Surname Meaning  - one more item on my TO DO List.

Behind the Name  the etymology and history of surnames - another website to check out Surname meanings and gather more information about the origins of surnames. Again I was not too lucky.

...and yes! Ancestry.com also has a surname area (free) - Learn about the Family History of Your Surname "What's in a Name?" 
"Here's some of the interesting facts you'll find about your family name:
Name meaning and history. Where your family lived and migrated in the US and the UK. Where they immigrated to and from. Life expectancy. Civil War. Occupations. You may even find others who have posted information about your family or who would like to contact you. Just enter your last name above to get started.---

 I typed in my SHEERAR line in Ancestry.com. No meaning of the name listed. However, there are 462 Historical Documents & Family Trees with Sheerar                 147 Census and Voter Lists       8 Immigration Records      89 Birth, Marriage, and Deaths                  194 Member Family Trees   and 24 Military Records. Under the Name Distribution in the states it shows 3 families were in New York and two were in Pennsylvania. I guess all three in New York are mine, I wonder about the Pennsylvania families.... more to do! The message forum shows NO threads or inquiries with the name SHEERAR, so I will start the first one.  

... and there is always Wikipedia - "A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of 'family name'. In the western hemisphere, it is a commonly synonymous with 'last name' and is usually placed at the end of a person's given name. In Spain and most Hispanophone and Lusophone countries, two last names (or surname's) are used. In Hungary, along with China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and in many other East Asian countries, the family name is placed before a person's given name. The western style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename or Christian name) is far from universal. In many countries it is common for ordinary people to have only one name or mononym. " (This is an extensive article, and very thorough. This is really very interesting and gives alot of fascinating information about surnames or the lack of them...  and alot of history in various parts of the world on surnames. It does have an area to search on a specific surname. ...... but worth checking it out)



.............and I am sure if you "Google" surnames and their meanings you will probably find many other resources. Good Luck


posted by Sandra Gardner Benward

Following Family Friday - Genealogy 201 -

It is that time of year for our regular Genealogy 10 week classes to begin. The classes are through the Sunrise Tech Center - Citrus Heights CA  with our own Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society member, Glenda Gardner Lloyd (no relation darn it !!) ........  it is a long day for Glenda since she has the beginners in the morning and intermediate group in the afternoon. Both sessions are totally full - surprise, surprise!!

My first class was this past Friday Afternnon. Time to settle down, and start focussing on MY family research. This year we are to select one family and concentrate on them as the weeks go by.  I am going to put my main line - GARDNER - aside and focuss on my maternal side starting with my mom, LITTLE (Cuba, Allegany, NY), grandmother BRISTOL(Cortland, Cortland, NY), and great grandmother  SHEERAR (NY). The SHEERAR line I have done a little with but I want to completely explore now.

First week is to make sure that we have found ALL U.S. Census, including State Census if any (and yipppey there are some for New York) and transcribe each of them. Transcribing each one helps you to see all information. It ensures that you have had to write each piece of information. Besides the transcribing,  we need to make notes any information that would led to other documents (i.e. occupation: farmer; need to check the Agriculture Census).

One, two, three GO!!!

Well so far I found the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 US Census......  Still need 1840, 1850,1860 & 1920 plus farm/ agriculture schedules

1870 US Censes: Cortlandville City, Cortland County, New York 9 June 1870
             Ambroid SHEERAR 35 Farmer Real Estate/$10,000 Personal/$2,000  B: New York
                 wife Rachael 25 Housekeeping/ B: New York
1880 US Census: Virgil City, Cortland County, New York  4 June 1880
              A.M. SHEERAR 45 Farmer  B: New York  parents born in New York
                 wife Rachael M, 35 Housekeeping B: New York   father b: New York mother: England
                 son  Fred A. M. 9 b: New York
                 daughter: Anna P 5 b: New York
                 daughter: Emma M  2 b: New York

1900 US Census: Virgil City, Cortland County New York  2 June 1900
.....................finds daughter Anna SHEERAR married to John E. BRISTOL with their own daughter Emma Bristol (eventually my grandmother)

1900 US Census, Virgil City, Cortland County, New York 21-22 June 1900                 
             Ambroid SHEERAR (b: Jun 1833) 66 y Married 35 y Farmer - Owned Home/ Mortgage/  Farm  see farm schedule 235  b: New York  can read/ write & speak English
                  wife Rachael  (b:Apr 1846) 54y Married 35 y b: New York (and parents)
                      3 children/2living  can read write & speak English

1910 US Census: Virgil Town, Cortland County, New York  26-27 Apr 1910
               A. A. SHEERAR  76  m1/45 Farmer/General Farm  b: New York
                  wife Rachel W.  65 m1/45 3children/2 living  b: New York father/NewYork mother/ England

I believe A. SHEERAR died in 1912 so 1910 will be the last US Census for him. However, Rachael lived until 1924. Still looking for this1920 Census  and also still looking backward at the 1860, 1850, 1840 US Census. I know there is also a farm/agriculture schedule for the 1900 but hope there is one for 1910, 1880, 1870.


Do you need a jump start? How about doing this together.... Who are you researching? Have you found all the Census records for all your family's? Have you transcribed each one? comments? suggestions?


posted for your amusement by Sandra Gardner Benward