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Archiver > DANISH-SURNAMES > 2006-07 > 1152180783


From: "mamabear" <>
Subject: Re: [Dan-Sur] Oates
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 20:13:27 +1000
References: <005b01c6a0c7$554d6770$6401a8c0@HP>


Seems to me Marie was joking and you have misunderstood her. She begins her
next sentence with " Seriously though...." It pays not to be too quick to
misunderstand people especially when they are trying to offer help.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Diana Gale Matthiesen" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 4:42 PM
Subject: RE: [Dan-Sur] Oates


> Forgive me, but I don't see the insult. *Most* of our ancestors were
> illiterate
> farmers, so being illiterate in the pre-industrial era not an insult.
>
> And I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "researching the other
> way."
>
> In terms of a surname's origin, it's the earliest occurrences that suggest
> the
> surname's origin and the earliest occurences of OATES that I can find are
> in
> England in the 14th century. That doesn't mean the people bearing the
> surname
> in the England didn't have Danish/Viking ancestry, but the Viking
> invasions of
> Britain long preceded the general use of surnames - especially by Danes.
> That's
> part of what DNA testing is trying to do, to take up where surnames
> disappear.
>
> Please note that I'm speaking of the geographic origin of OATES (i.e.,
> where it
> was originally used), not the linguistic derivation of the name. If you
> Google
> the name, you'll find there are numerous theories on the derivation of the
> name,
> as a word, everything from English "oats" to German "Otto" to some Irish
> Gaelic
> words. If I were a betting person, English "oats" seems the most
> reasonable,
> especially given the geographic distribution of the name, but I'd also bet
> that
> OATES, like most surnames, has multiple origins.
>
> Diana
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: marie [mailto:]
>> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 12:25 AM
>> To:
>> Subject: RE: [Dan-Sur] Oates
>>
>> Insults we do not need - they were not illiterate at all........
>>
>> Seriously though surnames could have come down that far but I
>> doubt it. Try
>> researching the other way for the name and you may be
>> surprised where the name originated.
>>
>> If you check out the LDS site you will find only one from
>> Norway and that is
>> in the 1890s.
>>
>> Suggest you read some medieval records to try to locate the
>> source of the
>> name.
>>
>> Marie
>>
>
>
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