Does anyone know the origin of the surname 'Organ'?

[LorraineJ]

I have found out that one of my 3x great grandmothers was born an Organ. From what I can gather, the line seemed to have died out after four generations, as there seems to have been a predominance of daughters. We are talking about the 1700s here, common names within the family were Maurice, Hester (or Esther), Sarah and Abraham - was this fashionable at the time, or do I deduce my ancestors may have been Jewish? Where would the name Organ have originated, as to me it sounds French?

[John-Nihon]

Hi Lorraine, I googled this:

http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Organ

Not sure if you've already seen this:

http://resources.rootsweb.ancestry.com/surnames/o/r/ORGAN/

[LorraineJ]

Hi Lorraine, I googled this:

http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Organ

Not sure if you've already seen this:

http://resources.rootsweb.ancestry.com/surnames/o/r/ORGAN/

Thank you John-Nihon, didn't realise the name was that old. Tried the Rootsweb link and the only Abrahams the site found were American.

[garstonite]

Hiya John.....I have just clicked on that Link.....and typed my surname Oakes..
I was surprised to learn that Oakes has an official Coat of Arms....to save me trawling the web,do you know of a site for Coat Of Arms ?...cheers...allan;)

[John-Nihon]

Sorry Allan, not really looked into that side of things myself. Have you tried googling for 'Heraldry' to see what comes up.

[garstonite]

yes...The ones on line are NOTHING like the one described that was given to Sir Henry Oakes Baronet in 1700`s....they look like typical online shops selling a crest that isn`t the Oakes c/o/arms.....thanks anyway.....allan;)

[John-Nihon]

Not sure if it has an online facility but I've found this link Allan: http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

[garstonite]

thanks John...no luck....cheers...allan;)

[Little Nell]

Abraham etc are Jewish names but zillions of gentiles have them. My middle name Ruth is Jewish but I'm not. Conversely my ex's Jewish side have a lot of gentile names like Rose. There are some more obvious Jewish names like Zalig, Naphthali etc which would be indicators.

Most Jewish families were settled in cities and towns not rural areas.

I also have an ORGAN in my family - she married a distant relative and she was from
Dowdeswell, Gloucestershire.

[Jill on the A272]

Might there have been a dropped "H" and the name was originally Horgan?

[Little Nell]

That's a plausible theory.

I have an Emmons family who are on 1841 census as Hammond, an example of an enumerator adding an H instead of dropping one!!!

[BC]

Lorraine, you may be correct with the French origin. When I was at school - too long ago to really discuss ! - we had a teacher with that name. Her subject was French and, as I remember it, she did not speak with an ' English ' accent, although it was rumoured she was Welsh.