What’s in a Name?

Have you been tantalized to explore your family’s origins? Have you ever been tempted to log on to one of those genealogy websites?

Genealogy is not an investigation of your prized denim jeans.  Rather it is a history of your lineage, identifying your ancestors and ascertaining the chronology of your family’s forbearers.

Royal Relation?
For example, as an essayist with the last name Middleton, I had aspirations that I would unearth evidence that I was a long lost relation of Kate Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge. My imagination exploded with eagerness over the theory that I could be kin to royalty. I found it thought-provoking that as a surname, the word Middleton can be traced to 7th century England.

My exploration led me to discover the meaning of Middleton is "settlement in the middle."  Similarly, Norton is an English surname meaning “North Settlement.” Could Peter Norton, founder of Norton AntiVirus also have a distant relationship to jolly old England? All that we really know for sure is that Peter Norton was the genius behind Norton AntiVirus products that tender advanced specialized security for technological communication devices that are significant components of our daily lives.

But back to my excitement about being a potential family member of Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, or Kate, as I like to call her...          

Sidetracked!
Just when I thought I was nearing a common link to my ancestry with the Duchess, my computer obtained a nasty virus that erased my research.

Why, oh why didn’t I listen to my sister when she warned me to install BitDefender Anti-Virus software? BitDefender programs, developed by high-level brainiacs, target the prevention, detection and removal of mean and malicious software. I could have protected my data so easily if I wasn’t so stubborn.  Even the packaging of BitDefender is intimidating!  BitDefender boxes display a menacing image of a wild dragon with wolf-like jaws as a symbol of determination and victory in the fight against online threats.

But I digress. Back to the task at hand.

I commenced with the arduous task of recreating the historical details that had been stolen away from my PC. Alas, to my chagrin, this lengthy investigation revealed that I lack even a drop of royal blood in my lineage. I won’t be receiving an invitation to Kate’s next baby shower.

Lesson Learned
But one thing I did learn.  Products like McAfee are an absolute necessity in today’s technologically based society to provide peace of mind while you surf and search the internet.

In fact, McAfee is actually a surname of Scottish origin that dates back to the seventeenth century.  It can be literally translated as “man of peace."  And peace of mind is precisely what home and business users achieve when they install McAfee on their computers.

I may have failed at my selfish goal to find a connection to the crowned heads of England, but perchance I have tickled your curiosity to explore your own heritage.