you ready for such a journey? The road can be rocky or "thorny" in my case.
My father always said that our name, Heydorn, was of Dutch origin – planters who came to British Guiana from Holland in the 19th century and worked on the plantations. When my daughter visited Holland, she could not find 'Heydorn' in the telephone book. Then she went on to Germany and found a number of Heydorn's in the telephone directory.
It seems that the Dutch spelling of Heydorn is Heydoorn and the German Heidorn - German heide – wild, open, uncultivated land, (heath) in English, and dorn apparently means "a thorny bush". Put it together and the family name translates into open land (brush) covered with a wild, prickly bush. The British equivalent would be "hawthorn" – a thorny shrub or tree with white, red or pink blossom and small dark red fruit or haws.
The mystery is starting to unfold. The idea of a thorny bush actually makes a lot of sense. It seems that the Heydorns can and have been thorns in the hides of a number of people over the ages! Heydorns have also been known to be wild, free spirits, adventurers, fiercely independent, and not to be contained. Some had extremely short fuses. Life has also been thorny for a number of Heydorns. One of my father's favourite sayings was "life is not a bed of roses" Yuh t'ink it easy?
The change in spelling and pronunciation to Heydorn can perhaps be explained as an Anglicization (changing it into English form) of the name. Many immigrants to English lands and empires had their names changed voluntarily, involuntarily or accidentally. A clerk or registrar of a registry office often took liberties with foreign sounding names (phonetically) and simplified them into "English" versions, making them easier to spell and pronounce.
Names of African origin or from China, other parts of Asia and the Indian sub-continent could be particularly challenging to transform into "English". A number of the immigrants were also illiterate compounding the problem. As a result some names were virtually unrecognizable from their original. In any case, you tag a Christian name on up front and you have virtually a new identity!
Immigrants to the United States have found their names "Americanized" over time. For example, Heydorn becoming Heydon. – the post vocalic "r" followed by another consonant is hard to say and thus easy to drop, linguistically speaking. The Americans love to simplify things.
Further investigation of the name Heydorn seems to indicate both Dutch and German origins, hence the confusion. Perhaps it came from Flanders, or Saxony in Germany, or from areas bordering the Netherlands - Low German or Dutch according to The World Book of Heydorns.
Immigrating to the United States, the Heydorns have been called Pennsylvania Dutch, originally Deutsch, which is German for German! More confusion again. Another branch of the "family" went to New York and others to various parts of the New World. The spelling of Heydorn seems to have been on record since 1815 or even before. Variations of the spelling include Hydon, Hydorn and Haydon,, whatever comes easy and rolls off the tongue.
To make matters more intriguing, I was told that growing wild in Holland is a thorny bush – Pyracantha from the Rosaceae (rose bush) family, a pretty bush, full of thorns, orange-coloured with green foliage, which translated into English is known as "firethorn". Now I have found a plant to go along with my name.
Despite my wife's protestations of bringing a thorny bush into our garden, I have gone out and ordered two of these firethorn bushes of the Yukon Belle variety which I will put to grow around a wooden arbour. Birds and butterflies apparently like the berries of this plant which are bitter but not poisonous. However some birds have been observed staggering around temporarily after eating them, as if they have paid a visit to a Demerara bar.
After having a plant to represent the family name, the next step is to go out and discover the family coat of arms. Failing to do so, I could perhaps design our own. All of this goes along with the cannon I have guarding the entrance to our home!
Interestingly enough, the history of surnames reportedly goes back to the Chinese at about 2850 BC. Folks originally had one name but changed it to three over time – the given name which came first, followed by a second name designating the clan. The last name is the family name.
By the Middle Ages, two names were common in Europe. Once military service and taxation came on the scene, two names were made mandatory by governments. Names were often associated with occupation, for example Butcher; or location John Brook (lived beside a stream); father's or mother's names; physical characteristic – a person of small stature may be called Little – a sly person may be called Fox; a quiet person Dove.
As mentioned before, names changed over time, migrations, circumstances, prefixes and suffixes being added or dropped depending on any of a number of reasons. Slaves got their names from their masters. After slavery, many Afro-Americans adopted the surnames of their former owners.
Native Americans quite often got their native names from the elders who would find a suitable name after the child had been observed for a period of time. I recently met a Native Canadian who said that she got her native name "pissed off squirrel", around the age of 12.
You see there is a lot more to names than meets the eye. Some folks change their name because they don't like it or for many other reasons. A name like Ramsbottom, quite common in the north of England, may not appeal to everyone. Some people have the same first and last name. Some are better known by their "false names" than by their real names. Apparently you can change your name as often as you wish but you have to give a good reason each time you change, legally speaking.
Following the flickering light of the past can lead to surprising discoveries. You may say, what does it matter, what's in a name? Some folks are interested in their past even to the extent of spending large sums of money doing DNA testing. I suspect that some of these companies are scams, feeding on people's egos.
There are many avenues, many roads to the past. Whatever road you take, the journey is often more fulfilling than the final destination. Enjoy the ride. If the creeks don't rise and the sun still shines, I'll be talking to you.

 

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