View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: names
Well, I personally don't have problems because I have most branches of my family back to the early 1600's now LOL BUTTry dedicated searching for "surname Brenda" - the quotes will knock your results from 69,000 to under 200. And you might want to take a look athttp://www.genealogytoday.com/surname/finder.mv?Surname=Brendawhere you can hook up with some cousins hopefully.I wouldn't suppose your surname was English at all - Brendan is from the Irish Gaelic Bréanainn, modern form Breandán, Anglicised as Brendan. What's probably more important for you in your research is the fact that church records were kept in Latin and the Latin form was Brendanus. As you go through Irish genealogy you'll find someone baptised as Brendanus but called Breandán or Bréanainn. Add in a heavy brogue, fatigue and confusion at entry ports in the US and you could have a recipe for surname Brenda.Good luck!Devon
vote up1vote down

No replies