ORIGINS OF A SURNAME
By Michael Thoirs
Thoirs Thoires Thores
Professor Ian Black in his book 'THE SURNAMES OF SCOTLAND'
Clearly identifies Thoirs as Scottish in its origin with the oldest confirmed recorded date in Aberdeen City arround 1545 AD
Basic Surname Convention
Basic Construction of Surnames . Most surnames can be traced back to one of five groups: (1) formed from the given name of the sire (common in English-speaking countries); (2) arising from physical characteristics or dispositions; (3) derived from locality or place of residence; (4) derived from occupation (crafts and trades common during medieval times); or (5) invented for their pleasing sound, as a nickname, or simply out of necessity. Over time, some countries developed specific rules, publishing "Naming Systems" for use in developing surnames. These systems, for example, promoted the use of suffixes like I, II, or III, which when used, the eldest son's name could be the same as that of the father. The Normans also introduced the Sr. and Jr. suffixes to distinguish father and son. Regionally there are commonalties among the way heritable surnames were derived. The English terminated names with "son", "ing", and "kin", which are comparable to names prefixed with the Gaelic "Mac", the Norman "Fitz", the Irish "0", and the Welsh "ap". There are also German, Netherlands, Scandinavian, and other European surnames of similar formation, such as the Scandinavian names ending in "sen". In the Slavic countries, the "sky" and "ski" played the same role. The Italians used a variety of prefixes for their naming practices. The prefix "di" (meaning "of") was often attached to an otherwise ordinary Christian name to form a patronym; "da" and "di" (meaning "from") often associated a place of origin; and "la" and "lo" (meaning "the") often derived from nicknames. While these are examples of a structured approach to naming descendants, all too often other circumstances existed and our ancestors opted for (or were forced into) an alternate approach. :
Origins
A population cluster versus time places the known family origins within the county of Aberdeenshire Scotland and this is home to the first recorded of our name sake. If there is a family member out there who believes his ancestors have no maternal link with this shire I would be pleased to investigate.
Prior to settlement in Scotland there is convincing geographical evidence that would link us with France, A region within the Cote-d-Or carries the name of THOIRES and a Chateau of that name exists. A common alliance existed between the two countries for many centuries 'the Auld Alliance'.bonding a special relationship in trade and political support. Other geographical examples
Any attempt to associate our family with Scandinavian or Nordic origins is flawed since to-date no record exists of our occupying any location in any of those countries.
Conclusions
Recorded history has shown that we have certainly played our part in influenced the course of history,particulary at troubled times in our native land. It is my objective here to share as much as I have gathered in my search for a greater awareness and understanding of our common ancestors so that we might better understand what it is to be a Thoirs. We all know the proceedure when asked for our surname! and we proceed to spell it out T.. H.. O.. I.. R.. S only to find O swapped with I , E added after the R etc... I don't even know if we pronounce our surname the same way and would be interested to find out ? send me a sound file to post@thoirs.com
I have a lot of information to transfer and to gather yet so please be patient,any contributions would be gladfully accepted Best Wishes and Regards