I used to work with a lady whose surname was Bloggs - and her first name began with J. Many people refused to take the name seriously - especially when she signed for courier pick ups at the office.

She said her Dad (Brit born from his accent) was of gypsy/Romany/traveller stock. Wonder if his people had adopted the name somewhere along the line or if it was legitimately historic?

Reminds me of a good friend here in Perth with the surname of Sneeuwjagt (pron. snee-jack in Strine). His father was a foundling in Amsterdam in the early 1900's. Left on the steps of the cathedral one wintry night, the nuns took him in and named him - sneeuwjagt is Dutch for snowdrift.

Referring back to my post in the Australian Fires thread, my friend (Sneeuwjagt junior) can claim a lot of the credit for developing and implementing the wildfire control policies and procedures here in Western Australia. He heads up this part of our state department of C.A.L.M.

stales