most uncommon surnames in your tree

[XPhile2868]

My rarest are Bracewell, Godbold, Couburn, Cowburn, de Valoines, de Normandie (the last two arent surnames in the modern sense of the word, though), Hulks, Knottage, Mackreth, Moxham, Snailom, Unckle and Waringe.

- Stephen

[BettyofKent]

My most unusual is BISHOPP.

My ggAunt married  Ishmael Norrington T Bishopp, which is the best first name/ surname combination in my tree. I don't know if this name is still about, but I imagine they must have got fed up saying, when asked their surname,  "that's Bishopp with two Ps"

Betty

[ali607]

I have the following quite close surnames which are closely related:

maxfield - grandma
Lovas - step grandad (supposeably hungarian name but i think it was changed when he fled Hungary in 2nd world war)
Pleasance - 2x great grandma
Tissington - 2x great grandma (from the village in derbyshire)
Grubham 2x great grandad sister in law!
Bransley 3x great grandma

and then some less close ones:
melling
Applebee
parratt
Glue

In fact i have to say that most of my names i would class as quite rare - aprt from my mums maiden name is Williams!

Alison

[Christopher]

De Banke ... I've lost John and Sarah De Banke's lads in Exeter as well as their two girls who I found married in Belfast. The girls appear to have vanished. My mum's youngest sister had De Banke as a forename. We  wondered where the name originated for many years. I found John and Sarah in Derbyshire prior to their move to Exeter.

There's a Blackett knocking around too ... I haven't been able to make a connection to any Blackett family to date.

How people from Co. Antrim end up with people named Gunderson from Norway, and De Bankes and Blacketts from where ever is totally beyond me.

Christopher

 

[Grothenwell]

Totally uncommon; a bit like Tigger, the wonderful, (not really), thing about Grothenwell is he was the only one, (apart from three daughters). That I can find anyway

Grothenwell

[Dave Francis]

Mine would have to be Mayoss. Try searching for that on the 1881 Census and you'll see what I mean. The name is so uncommon that it was incorrectly recorded in a variety of contemporary records, and modern transcribers have made it a real challenge to find the blighters when the name was correctly recorded. To add insult to injury, my gg-grandfather decided to call himself Mears. So did his brother. 

[Kezlyn]

Olieslaeger

So far i have found 60 alternative spellings 

Drives me nuts.

Kez

[lmw22]

I have many surnames in my tree including:

Buttrum, Bugg, Catchpole, Cheffings, Cocksedge, Crabtree, Diaper, Hunniball, Mudd, Proudfoot, Soans, Squirrell, Truepenny, Turtle, Waterfall, Woodcock, Wink and Wormell.

Soans and Wormell are of particular interest as I know very little about them and they are direct line.

I recently looked through all the names in both mine and my husbands trees.  We both have lots of 'creatures' and my husband has Marsh, Fields and Forrest to keep them in plus a Shepherd to look after them.    I have Dykes, Hills, Woods and a Waterfall to keep mine plus a Shepherd and a Butcher to look after them!!!!!!!

Lynnck

[stonechat]

I have got a
Rizbreger, however it may be a bad spelling of Risbridger