Whats in a Mans Name

WHAT'S IN A MAN'S NAME

In the mish-mash of information floating around in my brain is a collection of surnames of the people who inhabited this county. Surnames have always intrigued me as mine is unusual enough. When I first started the research on my genealogy, the first thing I did was try to figure out what the name meant.

Now to be perfectly honest, Muncrief is a strange name, but it meant something to somebody, way back when. It turns out that the first use of the name was on a land charter signed by King Alexander I of Scotland. In this charter, dated 1145 A.D., the king grants a certain parcel of land near Perth, Scotland to one Mathew de Moncrief.

But, that does not explain where the origin of the name occurred. One day I was surfing the net and came across the website for the town of Crieff, Scotland. I sent an email to the Webmaster. I asked him if Crieff, Scotland had anything to do with the Moncrief Clan. He replied with a nice long letter explaining that “crieff” in Gaelic meant “ in the trees”. He also said that “mon” in Gaelic meant “hill”.

So, if you put that all together “mon” and “crieff” in Gaelic meant, “hill in the trees”. Now, the interesting thing is that I have always heard that Moncreiffe (the original spelling) meant “hill of the sacred bough”. So, old Mathew on the original land charter would have literally been know as “ Mathew from the hill in the trees”. Not much sacred there I would think. Mathew was a Scottish hillbilly. He probably ran around wearing that kilt thing, freezing his kahunas off and looking for an Englishman to hack to pieces. This brings us to the subject of our sketch today.

I have just finished creating a surname index for the Murray County website with all those interred in the county for easy access to the proper cemeteries without spending hours looking in the wrong place. This brought to mind all the unusual surnames in the county. There are over 2,500 different surnames listed in the 38 cemeteries located in and bordering Murray County. Just as there are eight accepted spellings of the Muncrief surname there are several spelling variations included in the surname index.

Now, don’t anyone get their feathers ruffled if your grandma’s surname is here as you should take it in the manner that it is offered which is good natured and I’m not talking about anyone in particular.

Some of the names make unusual combinations with various meanings. For instances there are people buried in Murray County named North, East, South and West.

We have a Pope, a Bishop, a Priest and a Nunn. There is a Ham, Hock, Bean, Bacon, Egge and Coffee. In one cemetery we have Elvis and Rambo resting near each other.

Occupations were a good origin for surnames. We have many examples in this county. Some are Taylor, Carpenter, Wagoner, Cartwright, Barber, Cooper, Mason, Joiner, Baker, Potter, Sexton, Brewer, Tanner, Sawyer, Miner, Chandler and Cook.

Naturally, we cover the colors with Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Gray and White. We also have a Teel, Duck, Drake, Bird, Herron, Crane, Crow and Dove not to forget Coon, Moose, Bass, Beaver, Fish, Bull, Lamb, Fox, Wolf, Bee and Stags.

There is a Dark, Bright, Starr and Moon along with Allday and Goodnight. We have Fair, Raines and Hail with Snow and Frost. Don’t forget Dill, Lemon, Pepper, Fudge, Cherry and Apple. There are Forrest, Woods, Oaks, Maples, Birch, Roundtree and Stump. There is a Knight, Prince, Duke and King. There is a Long, or, Little and Short; and Strong or Bland.

We’ve got a Park, Camp, Persue, Hunt and Fish by a Peak or Hill. Then there is the Nash and Ford. Let’s not forget Hammer and Nail or Nutt and Bolt. How about a Farmer, Fields and Tillery. You can have a Day or Weeks. There is a Savage and Love, or, Fears, Meek and Shi.

You might have Peoples like Brothers, Husbands, Sailors, Guy or Mann. You may want a Cape, Hood, Coats or Suit. You have a Cops and Fine or a Cross and Christian. You even have a Caddy and Goffe. Did you know that Brooks Flow and Wells Flud?

There is a Cash and Dollar with a Clay and Potts. Along with Plant we have Reed, Grass, Hedges, Moss, Ivy, Rose, Posey, Berry, Cotton, Rice, Oats and Olive. There is a Steele, Glass, Wood and Stone Frame House or Castle. Also, we have the French and English, along with Brazil, France, England and Holland. And last of all we have Diamond, Jewel and Goldstone.

Then we have the people who have a first name for their last name. This could get really confusing as you could have a Sam Sam or a Paul Paul. Can you just imagine the pandemonium you could start with a clerk at a government office when you filled out a form and put down Dennis Dennis. It would drive them nuts trying to figure out if you made a mistake and put your first name in the last name box. A few more of these are: Billy, Donald, Henry, Otis, Nero, James, John, Jeff, Jessee and Victor. I had better stop as I’m getting very confused.

This is all true folks, I couldn’t make this up if I tried.