About the work

A closer look.

Send me your name and, if you know it, the country or language your family comes from. I research its real origin and meaning from language and naming records, then write you a short piece: where it came from, what it meant first, how it travelled, and the quiet thing it carries. You get a written deliverable (PDF) with the sources I used, within 5 days. No guessing dressed up as fact; where the record is uncertain, I say so.