Don’t despair if the site is down: it simply means that maintenance or updating is taking place. Make your choice from the lists for Cape Town, British Immigrants or South Africa as a whole. What I Do . This name was popularized by South African actress Charlize Theron (1975-), who was named after her father Charles. It is generally regarded as suitable for boys. A. Discover the ethnic origin and meaning of last names. Abioye Origin: Nigerian Meaning: The son of royalty. Not a week passes without at least one new list of BMDs (baptism, marriage and death transcriptions) from her, Nolene Lossau or Sha Redfern, who took up the challenge with transcriptions from other areas. SOUTH AFRICAN SURNAMES - W PLEASE NOTE: This is ONLY a listing of who is interested in which South African families. Short explanations of commonly used abbreviations and of column headings, An overview of how the database has grown, and A short German poem on the topic of genealogy. Notable bearers of this name include the Dutch actor Bartho Braat (b. Family research turns your world view upside down; it is far more exciting than any fiction, and not for the faint-hearted.”. A'Bear (22) 2. The people can be divided into over a thousand different … The same applies to ship lists for many slaves, who were known only by the names given them by their European owners. There were many women who had babies from the whites. It is considered to be primarily male. … It is mysteries like this which make some researchers turn their genetic legacy into a life quest. A major accessory for Internet genie junkies are CD-Roms which list anything from voters’ rolls and cemeteries to whole books. “A useful tip”, says one lister, “is to check who produced the CD. Origin: West African (Yoruba) Meaning: ‘Born with wealth.’ Abara Origin: West African (Igbo) Meaning: Spirit. Discover the ethnic origin and meaning of last names. Huguenot Foundation of South Africa website, South African British Immigrants (ZA-IB) newsgroup, other RootsWeb South African (ZA) newsgroup, Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy: Websites, A period of mourning struggle heroes has fallen – Zola Skweyiya, Young Kroonstad train tragedy heroes nominated for National Order, Remembering Hugh Masekela, South African legend: 1939-2018, South African app connects job seekers with employment opportunities, Google celebrates the life and work of Alan Paton, Remembering Keorapetse Kgositsile 1938-2018. Jelani Origin: Swahili Meaning: Full of strength. Says ever-helpful Port Elizabeth lister Becky Horne: “Without Ellen, many people would never have even begun their family trees. More databases will be added soon. Though not as active on the web as on paper, exploration of Jewish roots in South Africa has a starting point at Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy: Websites and Anne Lemkuhl’s Lemkuhl Family Home Page and German South African Resource Page provide great leads for German ancestors. Visit our Privacy Policy for more info. Abell (2) 9. Ancestors Research helps many clients with challenging and problematic South African Family Trees and history’s as well as difficulties in tracing their family trees and providing genealogy research for those people who cannot do it themselves or simply don’t have the time. Genealogical Gleanings has links to lineages of Zulu, Xhosa, Pondo, Swazi and Thembu royal families. In such cases, the child was given a surname of his mother or father or may be a third surname. The surname Potgieter was first found in Westphalia, where the name originated. 116. I maintain the list. Back to top. Sale. In South Africa Africa is mostly concentrated in: Western Cape, where 63 percent live, Gauteng, where 11 percent live and Eastern Cape, where 8 percent live. The name went to South Africa with the Dutch settlers in 1652. South African Genealogy has collected lots of Passenger Lists and made them freely available for you to search through. One such person is Ellen Stanton, who, based in the US, was drawn into transcribing details from Church of Latter Day Saints microfiche when she started looking for her own ancestors here. 117. I am also far more inclined to buy a CD if its sale contributes to the benefit of family history research in this country, as this is an area which receives low priority in national budget allowances.”. AHISHAKIYE is a both male (most) and female name which means "Whenever God want" and is originally from Rwanda. Says one such professional quester, Andre van Rensburg, a white Afrikaner proud of his genes, which range from Khoi translater Krotoa to Eastern slaves and “thoroughbred” Huguenots and Dutchmen: “What makes South African genealogy so exciting is that you never know what you will find. The site, which has over two million online records, gives plenty of links to other sites, lists of surnames being researched in South Africa, baptism, marriage and death transcriptions for the 1800s, and passenger lists, which are a mammoth work in progress as more come to light. Abbot (4) 5. The Afrikaners slowly developed their own language and culture when they came into contact with Africans and Asians. Acheampong Origin: Ghanaian (Ashanti) Meaning: Destined for greatness. 20 Jamaican Last Names That’ll Make You Wanna Visit Kingston. VAN DER MERWE Dutch, South African While the name is currently very common in South Africa, it originates in Holland, literally meaning "From the Merwe". 1950) and the South African writer Bartho Smit (1924-1986). It is also common in The Philippines, where 29 percent live and Nigeria, where 7 percent live. Guide to South Africa ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records. On occasion, we also use cookies to collect information from our toddlers, but that’s a totally different thing. African last names or surnames have deeper meanings than many think. If you’re unsure of where a person died, use the SAB section and try a variety of spelling permutations. Note: Please email us through our contact us page if you have any enquiries. Another person with his finger on the pulse of slavery is Mogamat Kamedien, who runs Slavery @ the Cape, a site which is expanding at a rapid rate as new data is added from University of Western Cape researchers and writer/historians like Nigel Worden. They’re especially useful if you’re researching more than one family or area, but often lose their value once you’ve found what you want. She is a rare gem. SOUTH AFRICAN SURNAMES - D PLEASE NOTE: This is ONLY a listing of who is interested in which South African families. Toure: This surname is possibly derived from the Soninkè word tùùrè, which means ‘elephant’. The name can be translated as ‘fullness of power’. South african last names starting with S CHARLIZE f Southern African, Afrikaans Feminine form of CHARLES using the popular Afrikaans name suffix ize. Privacy Policy. A member of both Mercer’s and Robertson’s newsgroups, Tanner-Tremaine is the 1820 settler guru and is constantly updating his database of over 30 000 names. – Despite generations of official efforts to keep South Africans apart, racial mingling goes back to the very first years when white and black met at the Cape of Good Hope. We use cookies to collect information from your browser to personalize content and perform site analytics. This sentiment is echoed by many who feel more effort should be made to sponsor an interest which serves as both a lesson in humility and an important empowerment tool. By subscribing you will receive continuous newsworthy information. Notable people with the surname include: Karthy Govender, South African human rights commissioner and academic; Kessie Govender (1942–2002), South African playwright and actor; Rogers Govender (born 1960), Church of England dean; Ronnie Govender (born 1934), South African playwright and writer; Venitia Govender, South African activist Tel +27-12-991-1772 (H), +27-11-350-5291 (W), +27-11-350-2001 (Fax) Below you will find. Register to receive our latest news and updates. The pool of reputable researchers is very small, and I know most names at a glance. Abel (6) 8. Van der Merwe: It was brought to South Africa in 1661 by Dutch. A surname's origin is influenced by the progenitor's social class and the culture they lived in. Find out how surnames are ranked in popularity, how many people in the United States of America bear a particular name, and how the statistics change between 1990 and 2000 US Censuses. Govender is a surname. The Afrikaners are a South African ethnic group who are descended from 17th century Dutch, German, and French settlers to South Africa. We know that the word ‘Africa’ was first used by the Romans to describe that part of the Carthaginian Empire which lies in present day Tunisia. South Africa, Miscellaneous Court Records Index, 1652-2004, 2008-2011: 213,803: South Africa, Slaves and Free Blacks Records Index, 1658-1835: 22,128: View all South Africa Court, Land, Wills & Financial (6) Data Collections; Sorted by South Africa Dictionaries, Encyclopedias & Reference. Not that long ago, Internet genealogy and family history research were separate entities, as US companies flooded the market with special offers ranging from census information on Ellis Island emigres to links to royal icons and famous celebrities. There is also a new database of Military Deserters in the Cape Colony during the 1800s. Kamedien also runs RootsWeb.com’s SA History newsgroup, which is geared towards historical backgrounds. This list may not reflect recent changes (). Here are some common South African last names: Dlamini: A popular surname in Southern Africa. eStore. You e-mail me the surnames you are interested in, and I send you the e-mail address(es) of the person(s) who are researching these surnames for their own family history. The exact origins of the word ‘Africa’ are contentious, but there is much about its history that is known. Africa is home to several language families and hundreds of languages all these different cultures countries and people have something in common they can be found now world wide and one way of keeping and telling others about your roots is African Surname and there for it is considered as very important in todays African culture. Abbey (1) 4. There’s also a new group for those in search of their St Helena roots. With over 1 million family tree records available, we hope your visit will be rewarding and that you will enjoy discovering more about your South African ancestors. In addition, plenty of newsgroup listers have published their own family tree websites, often linking them to others, given the intermarried nature of early settlers. Continually updated and maintained by a meagre complement of staff, the site is a work in progress, and nowhere near all archives resources have been listed. Adebisi Though still in its infancy, RootsWeb also has a site dedicated to ethnic origins on its free pages. Those who know the ropes are only too happy to guide new users in the right direction or volunteer free look-ups (genie lingo for anything that can be looked up – from newspapers to archive death notices). Born: 23 Jul 1927 Died: 09 Aug 2017 Basil Daniel Vivian Hearne, Forever in our hearts dad! Walter V. Volker, PO Box 37672, Faerie Glen, 0043, South Africa. To me, this list is about making friends as well.”. Welcome to Ancestor.co.za, one of the largest online sources of original South African genealogy information. For beginners, the list manager of RootsWeb’s South African British Immigrants (ZA-IB) newsgroup and the Afrikaans Buitenposten, well-known genealogist Delia Robertson, has developed a primer for beginners at e-Family, which she co-edits with Ron Smit and Gerda Pieterse. Many agree that the best starting block for South African research is Ancestry24.com, developed by Cape Town commercial family history researcher Heather MacAlister, who also runs the Cape Town Rootsweb newsgroup. Newsflash: watch Google for a new website, One Tree, covering the Eastern Cape and Transkei. I maintain the list. Abdinor (2) 7. Uduike: Udu means a clay pot to fill water, and Ike means strength. A site of much lively debate, it attracts interest groups from all sectors who thrive on historical issues. To be updated on Brand South Africa news and events join our media list. Africa is home to several language families and hundreds of languages all these different cultures countries and people have something in common they can be found now world wide and one way of keeping and telling others about your roots is African Surname and there for it is considered as very important in todays African culture. The most common South African surnames come from Nguni clans, which consist of the Zulu, Xhosa, and Ndebele clans. Those of higher social status often took surnames that are uncommon today; whereas people of lower social status often took what are today common surnames. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON PROGRESS IN THE NATIONAL EFFORT... [Opinion Editorial] Enough is still not enough when it comes to... Media Statement: Brand South Africa addresses media on allegations of corruption, South African cooking show picked up to air in US and Australia, South Africans Abroad commemorate their unique diverse Heritage. Name list of male Huguenots who settled at the Cape of Good Hope, and of whose surname is still continued in South Africa: A number of Huguenot surnames did not survive in South Africa; these include surnames such as Amiel, Aubanelle, Belusé, De Péronne, De Savoye, Dumont, Mouy, Potier, Prévost, Verdeau, etc. The young Potgieter family played a major role in the development of the medieval society of Westphalia, and quickly became one of the prominent families of the region. Coat-of-arms of some Huguenot surnames which are found in South Africa today. On my Stamouers website, you can access the research by Prof Robert C-H Shell’s slave transactions from the early Cape.”. Dlamini is also the surname of the reigning royal family of eSwatini. Find out how surnames are ranked in popularity, how many people in the United States of America bear a particular name, and how the statistics change between 1990 and 2000 US Censuses. These records are a work in progress so be sure to visit often to see what has been updated. 1. If these don’t satisfy your need, a quick Google for South African genealogy yields a number of other options, among which is the busy Afrikaans SAGenealogie group (which also has a separate website and photo album). BASETSANA f Sotho Means "ladies" in Sotho. Home; About Us; Hints & Tips; Register ; Contact Us; Welcome to South African Ancestry: We would suggest that first time visitors to the South African Ancestry website first do a search on the surnames that you are researching to see what records are available on the South African Ancestry database. The first van der Merwes hail from the Merwede river. Barring South Africa this last name occurs in 40 countries. Discover your DNA story and unlock the secrets of your ancestry and genealogy with our DNA kits for ancestry and the world’s most comprehensive DNA database. © 2012-2017 South African Ancestry | Terms & ConditionsTerms & Conditions Go to Van Rensburg Genealogy – which complements the Huguenot Foundation of South Africa website – to see Van Rensburg’s own “gemengde” line of descent and French Huguenot lineage and farms. Sort by Count. Mercer also owns South African Genealogy, which gives a myriad links to helpful South African sites – among them Paul Tanner-Tremaine’s 1820settlers.com, which has an ever-expanding list of visitors on its message board. Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? For many, RootsWeb’s South African British Immigrants (ZA-IB) newsgroup is a virtual second home. Hence, we can say that South Africa has a mixture of last names including West African last names, Indian last names, etc. The word “Afrikaners” means “Africans” in Dutch. A medley of South African sources – anything from official death notices to current estates and newspaper notices – can be found here. Early Origins of the Potgieter family. His site also has a membership area which includes a newsletter, and the interactive dynamic family tree (DFT) on his original site, Paul TT’s Genealogy Home Page, demonstrates just how intermarried the whole shebang of 4 000 settlers were. It is a familiar name in the East African countries speaking Kinyarwanda and Kirundi such as Rwanda, Uganda, RDC, Burundi and Tanzania... [more] AÏT Berber, Northern African The lists for the five ships in Dutch colonist Jan van Riebeeck’s fleet, which arrived at the Cape in 1652, have still not been found, and some controversy remains as to who the first free burghers were. Complementing the archives site, FamilySearch, the website for the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS), invites contributors to send in family trees, and though they need to be checked for accuracy, a copious amount of leads for both local and international family trees can be gleaned here. It’s a common Afrikaans surname meaning … It will form part of a broader site, e-Genealogy. Navigating around the site and mastering the search engine takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be there for days. South african last names starting with M South African Ancestry - Researching South African Family History. Stamouers.com is a virtual family bible for those with Dutch, German or slave ancestors – and also a work in progress, with Van Rensburg only too happy to add researched, proven details to the site. But “vanity genealogy” has come a long way since then, and now there are few amateur ancestor seekers who don’t use the virtual mode. Abiodun Origin: Yoruba Meaning: Born during the festival or war. Abbott (22) 6. It has its origin in the Tiv language, and means ‘father’s love’. Ancestors South Africa Family Tree & Genealogy Research. South Africa, Miscellaneous Court Records Index, 1652-2004, 2008-2011: 213,803: South Africa, Slaves and Free Blacks Records Index, 1658-1835: 22,128: View all South Africa Convict, Criminal, Land & Wills (6) Data Collections; Sorted by South Africa Reference, Dictionaries & Almanacs. Anyone with genealogical knowledge and a bit of spare time can do the same. Stuck in an exchange warp and blessed with in-bred ubuntu, South Africans are particularly conscious of keeping the flow of information as cheap, accurate and accessible as possible. In addition to BMD (baptism, marriage and death) information, the LDS also has a variety of books on microfiche, obtainable from centres in your area – gratis. The first known bearer of the name was Hermann Potgieter, a resident of Essen in the year 1463. The publisher of a number of websites and advertising manager of Genealogy without Frontiers, the recently launched online version of the Genealogical Society of South Africa, Van Rensburg has also conducted in-depth research on subjects as diverse as the slave stammoeder Armosyn van de Kaap, the hazardous expedition of the first slave ship to Benin, and controversial events surrounding the Dutch East India Company’s anti-establishment Jacob Cloete and the interment of Muslim exile Shaykh Yusuf. “The Internet has made available information and resources to people which previously would have taken months”, Van Rensburg says. A timeline and a comprehensive outline of the anomalies unique to SA research can also be found at Researching in South Africa. Details appear on the home page. Sorely in need of a mailing list to consolidate information for more lowly researchers, intermarriage in this area is also vaguely explored on Andre van Rensburg’s Van Rensburg Genealogy. This, and most other mailing lists, have searchable archives. Besides individual case studies, lists of slaves and their countries of origin at the Slave Lodge and on estates like Groot Constantia are given. Some used their owners’ surnames, some got their surnames according to the month or day they came to South Africa. Abendroth (1) 10. The other RootsWeb South African (ZA) newsgroup is run by Conrod Mercer, based in Krugersdorp. The site, which has over two million online records, gives plenty of links to other sites, lists of surnames being researched in South Africa, baptism, marriage and death transcriptions for the 1800s, and passenger lists, which are a mammoth work in progress as more come to light. Aalgaard (1) 3. The fulcrum around which all of this spins is the government’s National Archives of South Africa. This is why you hardly see an African man bearing a Western name as his last name. Pages in category "Afrikaans-language surnames" The following 138 pages are in this category, out of 138 total. Elitist though the groupings may sound, they only exist because volunteers manage them – for free. It is usually considered a male name. The real beauty, though, lies in the fact that all the transcripts are downloadable from Heather’s site or the newsgroup archives. “I am based in Australia, but am able to obtain primary documents electronically. Entries are listed under the sections TAB (Transvaal), VAB (Free State), NAB (Kwa Zulu Natal), KAB (Cape) and SAB (South Africa), together with various other sub-headings which include cemetery listings, photographs and official manuscripts dating back to the 1600s. If those are your priorities, the newsgroups at RootsWeb.com are virtual manna. This is where pooling of information on newsgroups saves money and promotes goedspa. Names are of huge significance in the continent and that is why some cultures go as far as having naming ceremonies where families officially name their children in the presence of other people. Go to the site, select “mailing lists”, then select “South Africa” under “countries”. See Using Brand South Africa material. You e-mail me the surnames you are interested in, and I send you the e-mail address(es) of the person(s) who are researching these surnames for their own family history. Sort by Count. What’s in a (South African) name? Toddlers, but that ’ s a totally different thing are in this category, of! Many, RootsWeb ’ s love ’ Nigerian Meaning: Born during 1800s! If those are your priorities, the newsgroups at RootsWeb.com are virtual manna this article in your publication or your. Other RootsWeb South African families we also use cookies to collect information from toddlers... 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Na visit Kingston Shell ’ s South African last names or surnames have deeper meanings than many think ll you. In your publication or on your website, you can access the by!