From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Mon Jul 24 08:13:44 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6OEDijb021876; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:13:44 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6OEDbp5017089 for ; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:13:37 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k6OBZHFI014511 for ; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:35:17 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k6OBZHxl014510 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:35:17 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k6OBUUFI014398 for ; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:30:30 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k6OE8euF019625 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:08:40 -0600 X-Envelope-From: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Mon Jul 24 08:08:40 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6OE8ejb019616 for ; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:08:40 -0600 Received: from smtp106.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com (smtp106.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com [68.142.206.239]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k6OE8Vjp014377 for ; Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:08:32 -0600 Received: (qmail 96573 invoked from network); 24 Jul 2006 14:08:27 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO Shirley.s-hornbeck.com) (shirleyhornbeck@sbcglobal.net@209.233.11.240 with login) by smtp106.plus.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; 24 Jul 2006 14:08:26 -0000 Message-Id: <6.2.3.4.2.20060724070354.02a40300@pop.mail.yahoo.com> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.3.4 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:04:12 -0700 To: ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com From: Shirley Hornbeck Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com X-Spam-Score: 1.31 (*) BAYES_00,FORGED_RCVD_HELO Subject: [ROOTS-L] This and That Tell the World Who You Are TELL THE WORLD WHO YOU ARE: The effort to achieve identification is as old - yet as contemporary - as man. Primitive man gave himself a distinguishing identification by means of tattoos, scars, bone piercing, hair cuttings and other markings. Indian tribes adopted special facial colorations and markings, and stylings for the head and hairpiece. African tribesmen pierce their nose with weird bone structures. These markings and mutilations all tend to identify the individual as belonging to a tribe or clan under one cause. Costume is another means of differentiating one group from another, i.e. the sari of India, the kilt of the highlander, the tunic of ancient Rome. We still see that today with groups, clubs and even gangs and their attire and tattoos. Soon after the Crusades in Europe, many people began to feel the need for family names which would identify them. The nobles were the first to adopt surnames, usually from the names of the lands they owned. Soon others did the same. Surname can be classified in four categories: Local surnames, kinship surnames, pet names and nicknames, occupational surnames. The local surname was derived from the place where the man once held land or where he once lived. Kinship names derived from the father is common in most countries. The addition of -son to a name would identify the offspring of a person. Pet names and nicknames were given to someone with some noticeable characteristic so he would be remembered, i.e. "Red", "Shorty", etc. Occupational surnames refer to the services one might offer such as Carpenter, Miller, etc. Another method of identification arose in the Middle Ages to identify one from another. During the Crusades, the knight, completely covered from head to toe with his armor, came to identify himself with his shield and his Coat of Arms. Many families can associate themselves with coats of arms dating back to medieval times. Coats of arms were granted to persons by the King. Originally a Coat of Arms was a surcoat (i.e., the cloth coat worn over armor to keep off the sun and rain) with symbols painted on it to distinguish which individual was wearing said armor, in the hope of avoiding friendly fire. The crest was the device worn on the helmet for the same reason. Rules vary from country to country as to who can or cannot use a particular set of arms. The crest is part of the arms. Arms were never issued to entire families, but to an individual and inherited by the eldest son. Until his father died, a son could only display the crest. Grant of arms reposed in the king in most, if not all, countries, but was generally delegated to the College of Arms (England) or equivalent. In many jurisdictions anyone can register arms with the appropriate authority. More tips at my This and That Genealogy Tip site, url in my signature below. Shirley Hornbeck THIS & THAT GENEALOGY TIPS: