Quote Originally Posted by chrisupyonder View Post
My surname could be Norman (France), German, Jewish, Viking and who know what else on my fathers side. Mothers side Norman, German, Irish. So I am a blend of Europe with hint of middle east on the side and a lot ended up in Scotland after the Norman invasion in 1066.
Similar story here but even the surname can have a lineage of various heritages at different historical times. Foster derives from Forrester which historically originated with one specific person from a noble Flanders family, to England and southern Scotland with the Norman Conquest, settled in Scotland and northern England, some parts then moving on to Northern Ireland, some still there, some Scots-Irish immigrants to the US or elsewhere, some to Australia, some back to Holland then on to the US, some to the US or elsewhere directly from England or Scotland, where the name has been modified in various places over centuries to the many variations of Forrester, Forester, Forster, Foster, Vorster, etc....

And that is only my patrilineal surname line. Even worse when one traces the other English and German and even other Scottish lines, even some native American thrown in there for a little genetic and historic spice. As said above, we are all cousins in one way or another, and should treat all like we are each others' familiy (well better than some family in some cases).