News Release: Origin of Family Names’ 20th Year

Contact: Scott Baird

At the annual meeting of the American Name Society in April of 1987, Trinity Linguistics professor Scott Baird and his wife Renee were talking informally with their friends Linguistics professor Fred Tarpley and his wife Jolene of East Texas State - Commerce. Fred asked if the group was interested in starting a new booth at the Texas Folklife Festival, to be held the following August. The Festival staff had already agreed to sponsor a trial booth on the Origin of Family Names - where researchers would utilize existing reference books and calligraphers would write results on individual certificates.
           
That August, the Tarpleys brought with them a graduate student, Darrell Beauchamp. The contingency of three from East Texas joined the Bairds and their two teenage daughters to open the booth. Their goal was to process 500 certificates in four days. They processed over 200 the first night.

Exhausted, Baird asked for help from the Trinity University library staff, which readily granted the use of their four reference books. Trinity University Spanish professor, Dick Woods, author of one of the four books, agreed to help – as did his wife Mary and Trinity Sociology/Anthropology professor John Donahue. The ten of them processed over 700 requests. The most memorable request came from a young woman with a noticeably misshapen head. Her name? Kennedy – the Irish version of which means “misshapen head.” Fortunately, Ms. Kennedy had an excellent sense of humor and argued that she had to be part of the original family, which registered its name in the 12th century.

The Origin of Family Names booth helps guests research the origins of their family names, most of which were first registered during the 11th and 12th centuries. (Baird likes to point out, “We have to tell people repeatedly that we have no idea how their particular family got the name; they want to talk about their grandparents - we can only talk about their ancestors.”

Most 11th and 12th centuries families elected to use first names (“sons of  Peter” would be registered variously as Peterson, Perez, Pietrzak, MacPhatter); habitation names (Bradford, French, Bush, Griffith); Occupations (Smith, Federman, Parson); nicknames (Kennedy. Short, Fox), or seasonal designations (Winter, Spring, Christmas). 

This year the Trinity University library, which has increased their holding of relevant research books to 28 (the largest collection in the State) will for the 20th year support the booth. This year for the first time, moreover, Trinity University has accepted an invitation to be the corporate sponsor of the booth.

It is anticipated that approximately 70 volunteers will process 1500 requests, during this year’s Folklife Festival – which has been shortened to three days.

Held (as always on the grounds of UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures in downtown San Antonio) this year’s festival will be on Friday, June 8, 5-11 p.m., Saturday, June 9, 10. a.m.-11 p.m.; and Sunday, June 10, Noon – 7 p.m. Cost of tickets: Adult (13-over) $10 at the gate; Adult (13-over) $8 in advance, Child (6-12) $4 at the gate and in advance; children under six FREE. For more information, use the Festival Hotline (210) 458-2390 or texasfolklifefestival.org.