>Are there any Tracy's or Haley's over there? :o)

Come to think of it, I can't trace (pardon the poor pun... have mercy for the poor pun, give it a few cents) either of your names back to any of ancient namespaces. Newbies :) But then, so am I - my first name is not traditional at all, and was probably invented in XIX century after expulsion of Ottomans and all that rebirth.

>My surname is common in Germany, Norway, Sweden and a few other countries. Interesting that my lastname (Skogen) means 'dense forest' or wood (the forest was the home of evil-spirited trolls) and my married name (Holzer) means 'woods or woodcutter or someone who sold wood' and related to Ashkenazic.

The word is German, IIRC, and I doubt the origin for a word for such a basic term would be borrowed. But as a surname, it can be one of those "ah you guys must have last names for the census - if you don't we'll name you after what you do... unless you choose something you like, precious stones, or noble metals maybe?". Which is what Austro-Hungarian empire did at some point. Jews were sort of lucky there, having chosen all those Diamond, Rubin, Gold-, Silber- etc -stein, -thal, -feld etc etc. Serbs in Croatia, having got the land to defend it from the Ottomans, were sort of free citizens and didn't have much respect for the census takers, so when asked to supply their last names, they reported all sorts of funny things. Now there are last names like Nepergaća (no-wash-pants), Masnikosa (greasy hair), Ubiparip (kill steed), Dronjak (rag), Čarapić (McSock), Bajagić (McMakeBelieve), Magarašević (McDonkeyRunner), Govedar (cowboy), Počuč (squat a bit), Šupić (McShack), Kisin (O'Sour), Kukić (McHook), Derikrava (skin the cow), Tresiglavić (shake head ... but 'glava' is head, with -ić it's the other head). Now, Munižaba (poke frog) needs explanation - that's from feudal times, there used to be a serf in charge of scaring the frogs away so they wouldn't croak and disturb the landlord's sleep. So "frog poker" is a profession. Stokuća can be "sto kuća" - hundred houses - or "stoku ća" - (let's run the) cattle home. Further: Guzina (big as*s), Puzigaća (crawl pants), Pirivatra (blow fire), Sisojević (McSucker or McTitty), Kockar (gambler), Drakulić, Kastratović (McEunuch)... and, to close this list, it's not all in the surnames. When asked whether he ever had trouble with his name, the mayor of Prijepolje, Tarzan Milošević, said "not at all - everybody knows we are not related to those Miloševićes".

>Yet gå åt skogen means to fail miserably in Swedish and drå åt skogen means to go to h*ll. Well, ok, literally it means 'go to the forest' but it really means the former. Nothing like having an expletive for surname! (or one associated with evil spirits or trolls) :o)

And you completely failed to note the hint to my last name in the pages about the days of the week :).