Blog
Ten things you might not know about Ireland
Do you want to discover ten things you might not know about Ireland? With more than 22,000 Irish name histories on our database, we are often contacted by Irish people who want to know more about their surname history. Plus, others are trying to trace Irish family...
St Patrick’s Day
Every year on March 17th, St Patrick's Day is celebrated, not just in Ireland but worldwide. But what are the origins of St Patrick’s Day and how is it celebrated? Of all the saints' days, St Patrick's Day seems to be the one that is most popularly supported, even by...
Our competition winner
Following our recent Facebook competition, we are thrilled to announce our competition winner! To celebrate International Women's Day, we offered the amazing prize of a beautiful wine set. We asked our Facebook followers to tell us about an inspirational woman in...
Double-barrelled surnames: A changing tradition
Where did double-barrelled surnames originate? They are more popular than ever, and customers often ask us if we have them on our Hall of Names database. Sadly, we don’t and in this article we explain why. We look at the early origins of the tradition, and how it was...
Competition to win a coat of arms wine set!
It is International Women's Day! To celebrate, we have just launched a fantastic Facebook competition to win a coat of arms wine set! This beautiful special occasion gift is worth £63.99 and is ideal for weddings and anniversaries. Plus it's a great idea for a...
The legendary Spike Milligan
The legendary British-Irish comedian Spike Milligan died on Febrauary 27th, 2002. Born to an English mother in April 1918, 'Terence Alan Milligan' father was born and raised in India, the son of an Irish captain serving in the British-Indian army. Disliking his first...
Who was St David?
Who was St David? Many people have heard of St David’s Day: it is celebrated on March 1st every year, to mark his death on this day in 589. It is when David, as the patron saint of Wales is honoured. To celebrate, we have put together some top facts about this...
Top ten facts to celebrate decimal day.
When decimalisation happened on February 15th 1971, it brought about a massive change to the British currency. Britain was not the first to convert to a decimal form of currency - for example Russia and France already used decimal currency systems, and had done since...
Your Scottish ancestry
Are you tracing your Scottish ancestry? Over the centuries, thousands of Scots emigrated to countries around the world in search of a fresh start or the chance to make their fortunes. Today people across the globe can trace their roots back to Scotland. Our friends at...