For 67 years his wife Netalija and her cousin Marianna thought each other was dead, after being separated in the battle of Leningrad in 1941. The documentary records the first emotional meeting of Netalija and Marianna, and their families, after 67 years. It is dedicated to Dr Janis Licis who saved Netalija, her mother and brother from the German slave labour camps.  

Netalija and her brother Ernest

John decided to place his family history onto MyHeritage.com, after considering and rejecting other sites,  and has been extremely pleased with the results. He entered his wife’s original name, Netalija Karlovna Mittenberg rather than her adopted name of Licis. Netalija’s family were the only Mittenbergs in Leningrad in the 1930s. 

Marianna’s grandson, who had heard about Netalija and her family, was also compiling his family history on MyHeritage.com. He typed in “Mittenberg” and amazingly, found Netalija's and John's family. 

In March 2009, John received an email from Dmitry Jegorov Sitic from Riga, capital of Latvia. Dmitry was terribly excited as his grandmother, Marianna Aleksandrova Egorova was Netalija’s cousin. Marianna’s mother, Vera Nikolaevna Chumakova and Netalija’s mother Lubova were sisters. His grandmother still had photos of the family. 

Lubova and Vera had 9 or more other siblings, however, it appears that Netalija and Marianna are the only surviving members of that branch of the family. One of MyHeritage’s genealogy experts is trying to assist Netalija find more information about her father (see right), who was taken by the KGB, along with his brother, in 1937 and was never seen again.  

Netalija, where did you and your family eventually settle after fleeing Riga?

After leaving Riga we ended up in a camp, Kemz (on the Danube).  When we were sent to this place, my mother was put into a camp next to a quarry, where she had to break up rocks with other men and women.  My brother Ernest and I were put into a detention camp for children.  After some time Dr Licis found us and had us transferred to Altenburg, where he was a doctor. When the war ended we went to a Latvian camp at Regentsburg. From there, we came to Australia, on the Wooster Victory and American Liberty ships, landing in Sydney. 

“We were sent to Bathurst to learn English and then on to Ballarat where we were given a job. Dr Licis, who was now my step-father, and my mother, also a doctor, were allowed to work as assistants at the Mental Hospital. I worked in the kitchen, before finally becoming a nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. My brother Ernest became a doctor.” 

The families were very excited to have found each other and corresponded regularly. Then in September 2009, John and Netalija made the trip to meet her long lost cousin Marianna. During this amazing reunion there was so much for the cousins to talk about – and lots of tears. Nearly all of their family perished during the war.

“The whole family has disintegrated to me and Marianna,” said Netalija. 

“From a very large plan there is nothing left, only crumbs and old people who remember. It is important to see what and where we came from and why we are here.” 

Netalija and Marianna - finally reunited 

Netalija and John visited the Orthodox Cathedral in Riga, which was built in 1876 – 1884. There candles are lit for the 800,000 civilians who died during the 900 day siege at Leningrad. This was undoubtedly the most tragic period in the history of St Petersburg, a period full of suffering and heroism. The Blokada (the Siege) of Leningrad is an important part of the city's heritage and a painful memory for the population's older generations. 

During the visit, the families went to Carikava (30 kms from Riga) and visited the Natural History Museum of Latvia. The museum is largely made up of houses from 12th and 13th century. The houses were built out of logs and were tucked away in the forest. People lived mostly away from the ocean and rivers because of the Viking influx and constant pillaging. The fishermen’s’ boats were kept on the lake, well hidden in the reeds. 

From there they journeyed on to Marianna’s childhood home in Pargolovo, 20 kms from centre of St Petersburg. It had been 73 years since Netalija had last seen the house, but she still had wonderful memories of her time at the house as a child. 

Spectra, a newspaper in Gatchina, also tried to assist Netalija by printing an article to see if any readers had additional information that would help the family with their research. It was a difficult process as the village Netalija had come from as a child, Siversky, did not appear to exist anymore. 

Have you heard anymore from the Births and Marriages office in Riga or through the article in Spectra? 

“No, unfortunately. We understand that Michael, another relative, had a daughter who now lives in Kiev. However, we do not know her married name and have been unable to find her.” 

John has ensured that all the wonderful new information and history they have uncovered will be passed down to future generations. All his DVD material and photos have been recorded onto CD's. All family members have also been given a folder with all photos. 

The family were interested to discover that Ernest's (Netalija’s brother) family have now introduced the Mittenberg name into their family tree. They are now Dain Mittenberg Licis. 

Netalija, will you have an opportunity to visit your family again or will they be able to visit Australia? 

“John is still hoping to sell the documentary, which will enable us to continue our research and return to find the original house in Siverskay. However, unemployment is very high there (50%), and it would be very difficult financially for any of the family to visit us. We are still hopeful one of the younger ones might be able to make the trip one day.” 

Netalija was unable to find her family “Dacha” (second home). All land records were destroyed, for convenience – or greed. 

But, the Dacha could still be there ……. Perhaps on a full moon, at the famous Moonstone, her “Brigadoon” will appear. 

For now, it lives in her memory –
A home; A grandfather; A grandmother ..... And lots of love.

Marianna's father Aleksandr, her mother Vera, Netalija's mother Lubova, Marianna, Ernest and Netalija

Genealogy. Nice word, isn’t it?

But how do people express this term in other languages and cultures?

We’ve had a quick root around for the term in a variety of languages – some obscure, some closer to home - and below is what we came up with. And before you ask: no, we don’t know how to pronounce all of these either.

But it’s interesting to take a look and see the word that’s on the mind of your brothers-and-sisters-in-arms overseas.

Incidentally, if you know the word for genealogy in a language outside of this list, feel free to post it in the comments below. This selection is by no means exhaustive.

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French - Généalogie

German - Genealogie

Spanish - Genealogía

Portuguese - Genealogia

Dutch - Genealogie

Italian - Genealogia

Polish - Genealogia

Slovenian: Genealogija

Swedish - Släktforskning

Danish - Slægtsforskning

Norwegian - Slektsforskning

Finnish - Sukututkimus

Czech - Genealogie

Afrikaans - Genealogie

Hungarian - Származástan

Hebrew - גנאלוגיה

Russian - Генеалогия

Indonesian - Silsilah

Hindi - वंशावली

Greek - γενεαλογία

Turkish - şecere

Arabic - علم الانساب

Farsi - سلسله شناسی

Chinese - 族谱(Zú pǔ)

Japanese - 系図 (Keizu)

In the spirit of boosting online productivity, then, we have here a set of suggestions for speeding up your online genealogy work, which – we hope – will enable you to pursue your hobby even quicker and with even less fuss than you do already. Even if these save you just a couple of moments every hour, the cumulative benefit over weeks and years of Internet browsing can really make a difference.

These tips should work on all commonly-used software, but if you’re having difficulties, do let us know.

So here’s the list. You may be familiar with some of these tips already, but there could still be a few surprises…

1) Get a new browser
If you’ve been using the same browsing software since you began your Internet life, you may be making a mistake. As is widely known, some browsers run faster than others. There is more than speed to take into consideration, though: some browsers have plug-ins and add-ons that others don’t, or unique features which certain users like.

The best thing you can do is read some reviews, see what you like the sound of, and try things out (you can install more than one browser if you want to). You may decide to stick with what you’ve got, but it’s at least worth checking out the competition. Since it’s your window onto the Internet, getting the right browser for you makes a lot of sense.

2) Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’re constantly using the mouse, you’re slowing yourself down. You can save a lot of time by using a few handy shortcuts.

Some of the most useful of these are:

--- Ctrl-L, which will take you to the address bar so you can immediately type in your url. (If you then hit ctrl-enter, the “www.” and “.com” are added automatically for you so ‘www.myheritage.com’ need only be typed as ‘myheritage’.)

--- Ctrl-K, which takes you immediately to the search bar, so you can look for what you want

--- Ctrl+ and Ctrl- will increase or decrease text size for you

--- Spacebar, which will scroll the window down a page for you (Shift-Spacebar will scroll it up)

--- Ctrl-F, which lets you search for a word or phrase in the page

3) Speed Dial
Speed Dial is a plugin available for Firefox, Chrome, and for Internet Explorer as the ‘easy homepage’ feature.

Speed Dial allows you to assign numbers to your favourite sites. You may, for instance, assign 1 to your genealogy blog, 2 to Facebook, and 3 to MyHeritage.com. If you then want to visit any of those sites, you simply press Ctrl plus the relevant number to get to them instantly. Ctrl-1 will take you to your blog, Ctrl-3 to MyHeritage.com, and so on. It’s a great timesaver for sites you frequently visit.

4) Smart Keywords
Smart Keywords offer another way to access your favourite sites fast, and are available on many browsers now. For any site you’ve bookmarked, you can assign a keyword. For example, if I wanted to assign a keyword for http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/ , I could simply right click on its entry in my bookmarks list and enter the letters ‘bgf’. Then, if I were to type this into the address bar (Ctrl-L to get there), I’d be at the site instantly. Much quicker than going through your bookmarks or typing out the full url.

(For Google Chrome, this feature can be accessed by going tools > options > basics > manage, and selecting a keyword for a particular website.)

5) RSS Readers
Most seasoned internet users are familiar with RSS already, but if you’re a relatively new user you may not be using it. If you haven’t tried RSS yet, it’s well worth getting started. RSS allows you to beam all your favourite genealogy blogs and news sites into one place, saving you the need to click through and read all of them separately.

You can set yourself up with a free reader such as Google Reader or BlogLines. As soon as you see the relevant RSS icon on a website, you can sign up to it with your reader.

6) Download Managers
If you download a lot of files, you may want to think about getting a Download manager. Many of these, such as Flashget and Free Download Manager allow you more options when downloading files and, perhaps more crucially, boost your actual download speeds. These could be worth taking a look at if you regularly download genealogy material.

7) Online Note Takers
There are a variety of programs, such as Notefish, which allow you to make notes online, organize your material, move it around, and more. You can do all of this on paper, of course, but these programs make things simpler, don’t clutter up your desk, and enable you to move from one machine to another and still access what you were working on. If you find yourself wanting to make notes as you go through your online research, a note taker could well come in handy.

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Hopefully you found at least some of these useful. If you’ve got tips of your own to share, make sure you list them for everyone to see in the comments below.

The handshake is thought by some to
have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hand held no
weapon.  If two men met and displayed
empty right hands, this presumably meant
a basic level of trust existed and that neither would stab the other. Of course, this explanation, doesn’t account for left-handed men, who presumably would have been happy to extend the right hand in greeting while wielding a dagger in the left!

In variations of this story, it is said that the handshake evolved from an elbow-to-wrist “patdown” to check for hidden knives; in another, the shaking motion was supposed to dislodge any sharp objects that may have been kept in the sleeve. 

Some scholars say the first shake on record occurred after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where warriors grasped each other's forearms as a gesture of peace - and to check for weapons.

However, archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that handshaking waspracticed in ancient Greece. This was as far back as the 5th century BC, with a depiction of two soldiers apparently shaking hands found on part of a 5th century BC funerary stele which is on display in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum.

Another funerary stele of the 4th century BC depicts Thrasea and his wife Euandria handshaking (see left).

In the 16th and 17th centuries and in the beginnings of the 18th century the handshake was not used as a greeting. It served to seal the peace between two parties or as a contract for closing business deals. Even a warring husband and wife would settle their dispute with a handshake.

Some researchers have suggested the handshake may have been introduced in the Western world by Sir Walter Raleigh, in service with the British Court during the late 16th century.

The Quakers are believed to be the first to popularize the handshake as a greeting. Known for their rejection of worldly vanity, the Quakers favored the egalitarian (promoting equality) handshake to grander gestures of the day such as bowing, hand kissing and sweeping one's hat.

A handshake is now entrenched in our culture and is commonly done upon meeting, greeting, parting, offering congratulations, expressing gratitude, or completing an agreement.  In sports or other competitive activities, it is also done as a sign of good sportsmanship.  The purpose of a handshake is to convey trust, balance, and equality.

Joseph Lazarow, Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for a July 1977 publicity stunt, in which he shook more than 11,000 hands in a single day.  President Theodore Roosevelt had previously held the record with 8,513 handshakes at a White House reception on January 1, 1907.

“One afternoon in the sun and I'm burnt. Thanks, Scottish ancestors.” (@emillogical)

“For some reason I want to sing along to the radio really loudly today.” (@alisonlodge)

“Unfortunately the cats don't like the F-111 noise. They blame us, as we go outside to look and they think we've caused it.” (@WollemiPine)

“I also read of a Russian describing Please Mr Postman as the most beautiful love song ever written. Good rousing rock number but love song?” (@WollemiPine)

“struggling, somewhat, to get back into the groove. hope you lot, on the other hand, are firing on all cylinders” (@monkchips)

“has to go a genealogy project this semester and doesn't really know where to start. Census records seem to be a dead end.” (@CaitlanWho)

“Still waiting every day for some will copies which will hopefully give some interesting info on various ancestors who were pub landlords.” (@wideblueskies)

“Children should be seen and not heard. My Victorian ancestors had one thing right.” (@quinnykins)

“OMG how did our ancestors survive without 87 different appliances in their kitchen” (@BestAppliances1)

“Why the hell my relatives think that I'm some heavy alcoholic” (@Vinylriceboy)

“My most boring relatives are over. Family commitments can be so annoying!Especially when my mum keeps nagging me.” (@XxTwilliciousxX)

“I'm looking at our relatives' fb profiles .....and i find it as a twisted thing to do! And I'm enjoying it!” (@adalarderoyalty)

“Why do my relatives kept on saying that Justin Bieber is a gay? Wish they would just shut up and mind their businesses. :/” (@nixylovesbieber)

“Go and holiday and guilt trip the dog-sitting relatives into doing it. Worked for me!” (@jonbonitace)

“More info than any of you need or require but I'm off to the hospital for a lovely relaxing procedure called a sweep.” (@nicstep)

“Do be do, hurry up train. I really want a bagel” (@halbpro)

“Think I'm gonna love the class I had today! AND got a call from an unknown distant relative asking about genealogy! Such an awesome day!” (@mccumbers)

“If our ancestors have had terrifying dreams pretty much identical to ours, does that mean my ancestors dreamt of Jerry Orbach?” (@mreida)

“So.. after Hitler's DNA test.. it showed that he had Jewish and African ancestors... does that make him related to Lenny Kravitz?” (@Reisedogg)

“Meeting relatives from Aachen today. They speak funny. “ (@nosugarinmytea)

“My pet rock died today. I buried him with his dead relatives. ” (@JKWisler)

“Loves 3am phone calls from relatives...I swear I'm the next Dear Abby...” (@Puchi_La_Diva88)

“I was a depressed kid who bore grudges when my relatives gave me dolls for presents.” (@srzly)

“Relatives have arrived, and my bed's in disarray. Actually, disarray is the wrong word. It's more like massacred.” (@thenightsshadow)

“Like a 5% chance I may murder someone for the delicious smelling sandwich they have. Actually drooling” (@halbpro)

“My dad sent me an email this morning with info about one of our ancestors. He invented the strawberry punnet basket. How cool is that?” (@KTSerendipity)

“While explaining Facebook to relatives, my 7-year old cousin asked, "How can someone write on your wall if they can't get in your house?"” (@ann_lee87)

“#18thcenturyinternet The American Colonies have unfriended Great Britain. France likes this.” (@PaulAshbyUB)

“U know what fascinates me? The American accent. How the hell did our British ancestors flip an accent to SUCH an extent and make a new one?” (@DiGi_Valentine)

“Now time for me to get to my genealogy, am in a searching mood. Grin” (@alliecor)

“If God put your genealogy in the bible would he point you out like he did with Enoch or would he just move on like he did with Kenan?” (@irnsides)

“I never got this pride with which people trace their lineage back to the Mayflower. Your ancestors were religious wackos noone liked.” (@ermso)

“My dog whines and whimpers when we clip her nails...her ancestors worked 24 hours a day or hunted bison...she's such a freakin princess! ” (@Anth_ology)

“I'm almost positive my ancestors roll over in their graves when I pour Guinness from a can” (@jsterlingtaylor)

“A husband said to his wife, "No, I don't hate your relatives. In fact, I like your mother-in-law better than I like mine."” (@Buggz79(

One of the most moving and powerful songs in the musical is “Bui Doi”, which refers to Vietnamese “orphans” – the children of Vietnamese mothers and American soldiers, abandoned at the end of the war.  The term “bui doi” literally translates to “living dust” or “dust of life”.

One of the key inspirations for the musical was
a photograph of a Vietnamese mother who was giving up her child at an airport in Ho Chi Minh City.  The child was being sent to her father, an ex GI who she had never met, to enable her to have a better future.  But she would never see her mother again.

On April 1975, over two thousand Vietnamese children were airlifted out of Vietnam and placed into American homes across the country. This project was known as “Operation Babylift” and approximately 2,700 children were flown out of South Vietnam to United States.  An additional 1,300 children were flown to Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Many people saw footage of President Ford carrying Vietnamese orphans out of airplanes in 1975, but few knew what happened to those children after they settled in with their adopted families. Twenty-five years later, the Vietnamese adoptees began to form a social movement community.

Operation Babylift is a very interesting part of adoption history and there is much on the Internet, including grateful letters from adoptees to President Ford thanking him for the chance to live.

Operation Reunite
Operation Reunite is a nonprofit organisation dedicated in its mission to provide information and support to Vietnamese Adoptees.  

This organisation offers search support to help reunite families separated by the Vietnam War. In addition, they seek to create an awareness and understanding of the Vietnam War era and present an overview of Vietnamese culture, language, customs, and family traditions to help make the journey through time and history more meaningful.

One of the founders of Operation Reunite is Trista Goldberg.  Her experience of finding her own family gave her the idea to form an organisation to help others to navigate their own search.

Following Operation Reunite’s Adoptee Tour earlier this year, they launched the Operation DNA project in Vietnam. This is the first project of its kind to reunite Vietnamese Adoptees with their genealogical lineage.  This DNA project can connect up to five generations of families with just a swap sample in the cheek area. Operation DNA will help to reunite mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, siblings and even half siblings.

Another support organisation is Adopted Vietnamese International (AVI). AVI was launched on the 25th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in April 2000 and is based in Sydney, Australia. There is a team of volunteers across three continents and volunteer translators of three different languages.

One of the main aims of AVI is to provide a range of resources and opportunities for adopted Vietnamese to explore their history and to share their unique insights on adoption. AVI's founder Indigo Willing was adopted from Saigon to Sydney in 1972.

img src = miss-saigon.com
img src = AVI

Nevertheless, we thought it’d be interesting to explore some of the research that has been done on the topic – the claims that have been made, and the implications of them. You can make up your own mind as to what’s true and what’s not.

1. Second-Borns are More Rebellious
It’s a fairly well-known assumption that first-borns are more conscientious and socially conservative than their second-born relatives. This argument was put forward by Frank Sulloway in his book Born to Rebel. Sulloway argues that later-borns are more agreeable, extraverted, and nonconformist than their first-born counterparts, and that these traits continue to shape their lives well into adulthood. You can see some of his arguments here.

Other studies have supported Sulloway’s claims. One study found consistent support for the hypothesis in self-reports by both youth and adult respondents. First-borns scored higher on conservatism, conscientiousness, and achievement orientation. Later-borns scored higher on rebelliousness, openness, and agreeableness.

These studies face problems because of the classic difficulty of disentangling correlation from causation. For instance, while we can find a statistical correlation between first-borns and those who become astronauts, it does not follow that those individuals are more likely to become astronauts because they were first-borns. It may simply be a result of the fact that highly-educated, high-socio-economically-advantaged families are disproportionately likely to have fewer children, and that astronauts disproportionately come from rich, well-educated families. Or it may legitimately be a result of first-born-ism. From the data alone, we don’t really know for sure.

2. First-Borns are More Intelligent
One curious observation which has frequently been made is that first-borns tend to score higher on IQ tests than their younger counterparts. In fact, within families there seems to be a trend for IQ to drop a couple of points with each child down to the third or fourth sibling, at which point it levels out. (Of course this is a trend, not an absolute…there are plenty of families where they younger kids outsmart their elders.)

Perhaps the most famous explanation for this was put forward by the social psychologist Robert Zajonc. His Confluence Model posited that first-borns mainly have adult influences around them in early years, and spend their initial years interacting in a highly intellectual family environment (as opposed to being surrounded by other toddlers). As other children arrive, the first-born also has the role of acting as a teacher to the younger sibling, and this “tutor effect” is said to further enhance the IQ of first-borns.

While the notion that first-borns have a higher IQ than their younger siblings has proven controversial, it has found some support from recent research. In 2007, for instance, Norwegian epidemiologists Petter Kristensen and Tor Bjerkedal published work showing a small but significant negative correlation between birth order and IQ. In other words, the younger one is in the birth order, the lower one’s IQ is likely to be.

While this question is clearly still controversial, the sheer size of this study's sample (about 250,000 individuals) and its rigorous controls for family size make it very convincing. A number of researchers are now taking the IQ theory seriously.

3. Like Seeks Out Like
It’s a folk truth that middle siblings seek each other out, and that elder siblings do the same.

In 2009, however, some scientific research seemed to point for the first time to the suggestion that there was truth in this tale. Joshua Hartshorne and others identified that first-borns were indeed more likely to associate with first-borners, middle-borns with middle-borns, only children with only children, and so on. Incredibly, their findings showed not only who people choose to be friends with, but who they’re likely to select as spouses.

Because the researchers controlled to show an effect independent of family size, the finding is unlikely to be an artefact of class or ethnicity. It may be a result of the fact that like really does attract like in relationships, and that somehow birth order makes you like someone in the same family position.

All a load of old cobblers?
Despite the new research, many people continue to doubt that birth order has any significance on personality. Some people find it hard to believe that any correlation could exist over such a large scale.

What do you think? Is birth order a real factor to be considered, or does it not really make much of a difference? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Here are five examples of this, which put the classic down-on-one-knee method to shame. They’re unusual, wacky, and quite simply awesome ways to propose a marriage. Take a look and see what you think.

1. The Man Who Raised Money Online to Buy a TV Ad
Rand Fishkin wanted to propose to his partner Geraldine in a unique, surprising, and romantic way. He was a fan of NFL, and hit upon the idea of proposing to her during a superbowl commercial. And what was the cost of running such an ad? A cool 2.5 million dollars.

But Rand worked in search marketing, and was a specialist in search engine optimization, viral media, and the like. He decided in 2006 to put together a website and an online campaign to draw in donations for his broadcasted proposal.

By February 1, 2007, just three days prior to the Super Bowl, Rand had amassed just $85k. He still needed to raise over $2.4 million, and he didn’t have long to do it. He enlisted the help of Entertainment Tonight, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Fox News. And with all this effort and support...well, Rand still couldn’t get the commercial on the air.

In the end it didn’t matter. Rand decided to do the next best thing, and purchased local ad time during Geraldine’s favourite television show, Veronica Mars. On February 6th, as Geraldine was watching the show, Rand’s ad came onto the screen. Here’s how it looked, and Geraldine’s reaction - which is priceless.

2. ‘Will you marry me?’ at 20,000 Feet
"There is no better way to get your heart rate up than jumping out of a plane and proposing to your girlfriend," said Mateo Martinez.

And that is exactly what Mr Martinez did.

Just as he was about to jump out of a plane for a tandem skydive with his partner, he popped the question. He had to wait a little longer than usual to unveil the engagement ring, admittedly.

3. A Super Mario Proposal
One sweet geek decided to propose to his girlfriend via a videogame. He hacked Super Mario, and got some gold coins to spell out a special message. Thankfully, he videotaped the whole thing for us as well.

4. Google Street View
Michael Weiss-Malik wasn’t happy with his ‘Proposal 1.0’, and decided he needed to go one step further to give his partner the marriage proposal she deserved.

Being a Google employee, he devised a plan. When he heard the Street View team were going to be driving by the Google Campus to take photos, he made sure he was standing there to be photograhed with his banner. Here’s how it looked.

5. Asking The Question With An Art Exhibition
George, an industrial designer, opted to construct a piece of art for his girlfriend, and then use it to propose to her via a faked art exhibition. His video summary of the event tells all.

Tony Abbot’s ancient surname is generally of early English origins, predating the Anglo-Saxons and Normans.  It was usually an occupational name for a person employed by an abbot, or perhaps a nickname for one who was thought to conduct himself like an abbot. 

Could you be related to the next Prime Minister of Australia?  How common is the name Gillard or Abbot in Australia?  You might be surprised!  Find out below, along with the 10 most common surnames in Australia.

FPM = Frequency Per Million

Gillard – FPM:  136.04
Abbot – FPM:  16.70

 1.    SMITH
FPM:  12,254.2  (New Zealand – 9,009.07)
Derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "smitan," to smite or strike, Smith is an occupational name for a man who works with metal (smith or blacksmith). This is a craft that was practiced in all countries, making the surname and its derivations the most common of all surnames.

2.    JONES
FPM:  6,132.79  (NZ – 4,002.11)
This famous surname, is of English medieval origins. It derives either from the male given name John, or its female equivalent Joan, both Norman French introductions after the 1066 Invasion.  It is widespread throughout the British Isles, and the most popular surname in Wales, where "son of" is denoted by the "s" ending

3.    WILLIAMS
FPM:  5,904.07  (NZ – 4,767.47)
The meaning is derived from son or descendant of Guillemin, the French form of William.  As mentioned above, adding an "s" to the end of a surname in Wales denotes "son of," pointing to Wales as the origin of many people with the Williams surname.

4.    BROWN 
FPM:  5,880.77  (NZ – 4,809.8)
When the surname is of English or Scottish origins it is derived from a nickname concerning the complexion of an individual, or the colour of their hair. This nickname is derived from the Old English brun, brūn;  Middle English brun, broun; or Old French brun.

5.    WILSON
FPM: 5,037.98  (NZ – 5,141.69)
Details for Wilson are short and sweet.  It is of English or Scottish origin and literally means "son of Wil". 

6.    TAYLOR
FPM: 4,867.51  (NZ – 4,481.43)
Taylor is among the most commonly found surnames, due to its popularity as a medieval occupation.  The English occupational name for a tailor, came from Old French "tailleur" for "tailor" which comes from the Latin "taliare," meaning "to cut."  The first historical evidence of the surname dates to South West England in 1182.

7.    NGUYEN
FPM: 3,798.06  (NZ – n/a)
By some estimates, approximately 40 percent Vietnamese have this surname.  Nguyen is of Chinese origin, from the Chinese ruan, a plucked string instrument.  In Vietnamese history, many events contributed to the name's prominence. In 1232, descendants of the Ly were forced to change their surname to Nguyen.  Others later changed their name to Nguyen to avoid persecution. 

8.    JOHNSON
FPM:  3,571.02  (NZ – 2,375.1)
Johnson is an English patronymic name meaning "son of John (gift of God)”.  The name John derives from the Latin Johannes, which is derived from the Hebrew Yohanan meaning "Jehovah has favoured."  The suffix meaning "son," creates several different variations of the JOHNSON surname.  This includes: English son, Norwegian sen, German sohn, and Swedish sson.  JONES is the common Welsh version of this surname.  The JOHNSON surname may also be an Anglicisation of the Gaelic surname MacSeain or MacShane.

9.    MARTIN
FPM: 3,314.21  (NZ – n/a)
This interesting surname is of Roman origin and is recorded in around two hundred forms from Martin and Martini, to Marti and Martinovich.  It derives from "Mars", the god of fertility and war, although it is claimed that "Mars" itself may derive ultimately from the word "mar", meaning "to gleam".  The original given name has been used in every state in Europe since the 12th century crusades.

10.  WHITE
FPM:  3,304.37  (NZ – 2,305.61)
From the Middle English "whit",  meaning "white", this is a descriptive name or nickname given to a person with very light hair or complexion.  The early name referred either to a baby, one who was "unblemished", or for some it may have been an ethnic term given to a Viking or Anglo-Saxon, who were pale in hair and complexion compared with the original native Celts, who were dark.  It has a number of possible origins. In the single spellings of White or Wita, it appears in the very earliest surviving registers such as the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the pre 9th century a.d.

How unique is your name?

img src = The Daily Telegraph

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