Thread: Origin of "Kentosh"

My last name, Kentosh, is supposedly changed from a Russian name.

Any idea what my original surname should be? The two possibilities that I can think of are "Кентовcкий" and "Кентович" - do either of these seem possible?

Спасибо!

Originally Posted by fishfanatic368

My last name, Kentosh, is supposedly changed from a Russian name.

Any idea what my original surname should be? The two possibilities that I can think of are "Кентовcкий" and "Кентович" - do either of these seem possible?

Спасибо!

You won't be able to figure out the original name this way. There is way too many possibilities. So called Russian names in many cases were adopted from other languages. Your name sounds to me Hungarian or maybe Czech. Having said that, there was a famous Russian or should I say Soviet scientist with the last name Келдыш.

Originally Posted by fishfanatic368

My last name, Kentosh, is supposedly changed from a Russian name.

Спасибо!

I can't ever think of Russian name sound like it. The only thing coming to my mind is McIntosh -- but, regrettably, it's Irish name.

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Originally Posted by fishfanatic368

My last name, Kentosh, is supposedly changed from a Russian name.

Спасибо!

I can't ever think of Russian name sound like it. The only thing coming to my mind is McIntosh -- but, regrettably, it's Irish name.

Nah, it's Scottish, the McIntosh clan comes from Invernesshire.

If i may, Hijack this thread for my own personal uses for just 1 moment please.

My last name is Kerby. Most of my grandparents were Irish, British, and Welsh. Some arriving in America as late as the 1920s. Some comming as early as the 18-Somethings. I've been told that the name Kerby comes from old english "Kirk" (church) and well, by (by). Meaning "By the church". So in essence, someone a long time ago who was probly really cool and rode 12 arabian horses and had gold plated knight armour was in my family and lived in england by some really cool church that he probably owned was named Kerby (Kirby). Does this sound plausable? If anyone in the UK, or who has some knowledge of old english be so kind as to enlighten me of my heritage.

Also, it looks to me that the old english word for church "Kirk" very closely resembles the moderd german word Kirche. I know at one time English and German were the same languages and it is very interesting to be able to see the evolution of the two of them just by 1 word that also just so happens to be in my name . Aren't I special.

'Kirk' isn't actually archaic. You're right in that it was a Middle-English word for 'Church', but it it is still in use in Scotland (where it was never superceded in Lowland Scots or Modern Scots English by the word 'church' at all and remains normal usage), and some parts of Northern England (where it's more of a colloquialism or archaism). As such, it makes an appearance in literaly thousands of Scottish and English place names and surnames. As far as I know, 'Kirkby' just means 'a village with a kirk'.

So, yeah, it's more than plausible.

Originally Posted by MikeM

You won't be able to figure out the original name this way. There is way too many possibilities. So called Russian names in many cases were adopted from other languages. Your name sounds to me Hungarian or maybe Czech. Having said that, there was a famous Russian or should I say Soviet scientist with the last name Келдыш.

I also thought that it sounded like Hungarian, however, a short Google search has shown that the name Kentoš is indeed Czech, at least it occurs a lot in pages writted in Czech language. Келдыш, by the way, comes from a family of Lithuanian Tartars.

Awesome @ Scotcher

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by scotcher

'Kirk' isn't actually archaic. You're right in that it was a Middle-English word for 'Church', but it it is still in use in Scotland (where it was never superceded in Lowland Scots or Modern Scots English by the word 'church' at all and remains normal usage), and some parts of Northern England (where it's more of a colloquialism or archaism). As such, it makes an appearance in literaly thousands of Scottish and English place names and surnames. As far as I know, 'Kirkby' just means 'a village with a kirk'.

So, yeah, it's more than plausible.

Perfectly correct - apart from the fact that it is originally Middle-English.
It's a Viking word (they were everywhere), that's where the Middle-English got it from. As a matter of fact "Kirkeby" in (modern) Danish still means exactly what Scotcher said, "town with a church", and there are several small towns or villages with that name.
It's also a pretty common surname in Denmark.


So it looks like you have Viking blood.


BY

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

If i may, Hijack this thread for my own personal uses for just 1 moment please.

My last name is Kerby. Most of my grandparents were Irish, British, and Welsh

Wales is in Britain.

Sorry i don't live in the UK. As far as I knew wales was something seperate with its own language. Thank you for... schooling me.