Names

[Redheadthere]

Are some American surnames just made up? i`ve heard of a guy called Tony Nungesser. from where does that name originate?

[dot.hawkes]

germany

[sophie_1003]

It's like the authour of The Time Travellers Wife... Audrey Niffenegger (sp?)! Very good book though!

[shaneystar2]

It is indeed German .. probably from a spelling of Nonnengasse, from a street name meaning Nuns Lane or from Gnugesser a slang word in German for a big eater...from genug (enough ) and esser (eater)

[saxy_jag]

I have family in West Michigan, where a large proportion of the community are of Dutch ancestry. Just about every other name in the phone book is Dutch.

[RATTER15]

Its not the names that are made up, its the people!!

[RATTER15]

Sorry was that racist?

[vehelpfulguy]

In knew an American guy called Keith Gardenhire.

In fact a search of the internet shows quite a few people called Gardenhire.

Many names come from peoples jobs: Butcher, Thatcher etc so maybe his decendents worked in a garden hire business.

[dot.hawkes]

also german
Gardenhire
Americanized form of German Gertenh�uer, an occupational name for someone who cut canes or made rods, from Middle High German gerte �cane�, �rod� + hou(w)er �cutter�.

[Clanad]

Additionally, many immigrants in the great migrations of 1850 to about 1900 had names that were difficult for the officials at Staten Island and other immigration centers, to spell. Many families have names that were arbitrarily assigned because of the limited ability of the officers to understand what they were being told when asking the new arrival what his name was...

[Redheadthere]

thanks everyone, thats broaden my knowledge. i particular liked Clanad`s answer. that seems to me to be why so many names are unpronouncable

[annavc]

I once met someone in New York called Randy **** - I tried very hard not to laugh when introduced but failed miserably. Luckily they had no idea why I was laughing!

[annavc]

Ok - thought that might get starred out. Its Randy W**k - the word often has an "er" on the end!

[Redheadthere]

Sory Annavc but thanks to the second name being blanked out i dont know what Randy`s second name was so missed the joke

[annavc]

It was Randy W@nk. I'll see if this gets past the censors!

[Redheadthere]

i didnt realise that word didnt have the meaning OVER there as it is here in UK.
Dont know if you are familiar with American sitcoms. there`s a show called MARRIED WITH CHILDREN. The wife Peggy`s maiden name was Peggy ******. i nearly fell off my chair when i first heard them say that.

[samuel23]

I stayed in Key West for a while a couple of years ago and the local mechanic was going on about a w@nkel rotary engine. He also said that he was going to w@nk the wheelnuts on my 4x4. I nearly p1ssed myself laughing, but he just meant he was going to wind them round a bit (e.g. tighten them up). His name was Randy Friedelberg and the garage was owned by a family called Kunt ~(but the u had an umlaut - those two little dots the germans use - over it) so it was pronounced Koont similar to the author Dean Koontz I suppose.