","Many of our last names in use today, cannot be found before the 17th and 18th century since the majority of them were changed. By example, the famed William Shakespeare, spelt his last name, Shakespeare, Shakespere, Shakespear, Shakspere, and Shaxspere.","Westphalia, which means western plain, is the contemporary Bundesland, or state, of Nordrhein-Westfalen. ","Local names, which are also referred to as toponymic surnames, were given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. They were also sometimes used to denote a person's nationality.","Ellis Island is located about one mile southwest of Manhattan in Upper New York Bay, United States. From 1892 to 1943, it was the main immigration station for the United States of America. For many thousands of immigrants traveling en route to Ellis Island, the towering Statue of Liberty provided the first glimpse of their new home.","The early history of the Netherlands was fraught with conflict. In the 1st century, the original inhabitants of this area, who were primarily Celts and Frisians, came under the control of the Roman Empire. By the 5th century,","As far back as 500 BC, the north central region now known as Germany was once occupied by the Celts and at its northern reaches Teutonic tribes. By 113 BC, German tribes began to invade along the Mediterranean in 113 BC, the Romans started their campaigns to push these Germani back. Their efforts against the Germanic tribes included many successful campaigns under the Roman general Gaius Marius, and then later by Julius Caesar in 55 and 53 BC.",null],"lnksHoverSummaryImgURL":[null,"","","","","/cdn/webp/i/kb/200w/books.webp?pos=floatRight","","/cdn/webp/i/kb/200w/books2.webp","","","",null],"mode":"f","s":"Kist","sU":"CHRIST","oC":"GR","o":"German","o2":null,"cOk":true,"c":"/dpreview/CHRIST/GR/Kist/family-crest-coat-of-arms.png","c2":"/dpreview/ANDERSON/SC/Anderson/family-crest-coat-of-arms.png","v":"1","sections":["","SettlersUS","SettlersCA","SettlersAU","SettlersNZ","SettlersZA","SettlersWI","Settlers","ContemporaryNotable","ContemporaryNotables","HistoricEvents","RelatedStories","Motto","SuggestedReading","Citations",""]}