Surnames

[stickman]

I was reading through the genealogy section and found that a number of searches were relying on surnames. This may not be the best approach. In my case my last name was misspelled on my grandfathers birth certificate. The name should be Curwen but it was common practice to drop a W in the middle of a word. Sometimes the W was replaced with an R. An example is the name Warwick. This name is pronounced with the middle W silent, Warrick. I have family members who are Warwicks. This is the reason why my surname wound up Curran instead of Curwen. The Curwens were a reviver clan and were located In Cumberland. The name originated as a place name in Kirkcudbright.