Huh? What's not nice to say?

Exactly. Come from a long line of Joe hangers.

>That's not nice to say. BTW, what does Johengen mean, "let's hang Joe"? :-)
>
>>That means to cut down the forest of trees. <g>
>>
>>>So what does Bleken mean? :o)
>>>
>>>>Surnames related to nature is very common in Scandinavia.
>>>>
>>>>>How I manage to keep a surname dealing with forests, woods, or trees is surprising :o)
>>>>>
>>>>>>>It's been a joke in my family since I married a Holzer :o) I've had the Holzer lastname since then and I kept it after the divorce so I share the same lastname as my daughter. Holzer in German means to fell trees or perhaps woods some tell me. Very close to Skogen! :o)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Close. Zu holzen means to fell trees. But after checking carefully with my German dictionary, I think that Holzer in fact is plural for Holz. So we don't have to fool in this case. Holzer means many trees, and many trees is a skog, in Norwegian.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I just realized something funny with your "new" last name.
>>>>>>>>Holz = In German "Holz" means "tree".
>>>>>>>>Er: In Norwegian "er" in the end of a noun, means that it's plural.
>>>>>>>>So if you combine German and Norwegian, you can say that Holzer means many trees which is a forest. And in Norwegian Skogen means the forest. Coincidence? :-))
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>One of the reasons I picked it. I'm a Skogen :o)