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>I think somewhere my "McDonnell" is related to one of the McDonalds (in all its myriad spelling) but I can't get a fix on which. I've tried to trace my plaid but can only get a vagure "entitlement" to the other, but which one? Its excacerbated by my line coming from Ireland, Galway, where tartans aren't that prevalent. Anyhow, when we first got a phone we looked up how many other McDonnells there were in Liverpool. We found hundreds of McDonalds (in all its myriad spelling), but only 9 McDonnells.
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>I like to think that one of my lot is the founder of McDonnell-Douglas, and my dad's sister told me this when I was a kid. But I was disabused of this by one of their employees once. I don't know who's right. Anyway, I've had to spell out my name to EVERYONE who's ever recorded it - invariably getting the hamburger version understood first! :-)
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>Terry

Terry;

As you know my last name is English - and means someone from the White Forest. This is the original spelling of the name. I have a long list of alternative spellings.

My grandfathers grandparents were from Galway on the male side. The name was Cummins and when they moved to England in the 1840's it became Cummings.

Tom