Wierd name?

Question:

Wierd name?

My Grandfather's name was Tunis, he has passed away, but I always wondered where the name came from and nobody in the family knows. He was Scottich decent so his family was not from the country Tunis. Has anyone else heard of this name and it's orgin?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Tunis is considered an Italian surname. So even though your grandfather was of Scottish decent, it's very probable that someone along the way that married an Italian or Italian descendant, and introduced the name into the family.

It could also have been a name introduced in the Scottish lines during the Roman empires conquest of Great Britain.

Then there's the fact that the name could have been changed over the years. Many people before the 20th century couldn't spell. So it was very common for the spelling of surnames to change from one generation to the next. Or for siblings to spell their last name differently.

Your best bet is going to be start doing genealogy. Trace your grandfather's line back one person at a time. Then you'll be able to see if someone named Tunis married into the Scottish line, or if the name changed spelling over time.