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Many of today's last names (including many of the most common last names) derive from the medieval tradition of appending people's trade to their given name (for a fictional example, see Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End"). So let's bring them all together here, those Smiths, Millers, Bakers, Farmers, etc.!
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
500 |
The Boys of the Dark: A Story of Betrayal and Redemption in the Deep South
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Robin Gaby Fisher (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 514 ratings
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500 |
A Chill Rain in January (Karl Alberg #3)
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500 |
Bunny Lake Is Missing
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3.49 avg rating — 455 ratings
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504 |
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
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3.35 avg rating — 1,799 ratings
score: 11,
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1 person voted
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504 |
The Woman Who Wasn't There: The True Story of an Incredible Deception
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Robin Gaby Fisher (Goodreads Author)
3.79 avg rating — 3,148 ratings
score: 11,
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504 |
Still Waters
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3.31 avg rating — 26 ratings
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1 person voted
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504 |
The Little Engine That Could
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4.20 avg rating — 116,017 ratings
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1 person voted
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508 |
Die letzte Welt
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3.76 avg rating — 1,280 ratings
score: 10,
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1 person voted
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508 |
Rebuilding: When Your Relationship Ends (Rebuilding Books; For Divorce and Beyond)
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4.22 avg rating — 800 ratings
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1 person voted
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508 |
Diplomatic Corpse (Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery, #24)
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 85 ratings
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508 |
Three Lives for the Czar
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4.50 avg rating — 8 ratings
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512 |
Secrets (The Guardian Trilogy, #1)
by
Liz Schulte (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 2,253 ratings
score: 9,
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512 |
Finding Fish
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4.15 avg rating — 5,158 ratings
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512 |
PaleoAmerican Ethnic Diversity: Ancient Europeans in North America
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4.31 avg rating — 35 ratings
score: 9,
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515 |
The Search for Anna Fisher.
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4.13 avg rating — 23 ratings
score: 8,
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515 |
White Bear, Ice Bear (A Just for a Day Book)
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3.45 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 8,
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1 person voted
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515 |
The Parallax View
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 81 ratings
score: 8,
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518 |
Wenn dich ein Löwe nach der Uhrzeit fragt
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 20 ratings
score: 7,
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518 |
After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival
by
Robin Gaby Fisher (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 810 ratings
score: 7,
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518 |
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay: An Unforgettable Comic Chronicle of Innocents Abroad in the 1920s
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4.06 avg rating — 2,261 ratings
score: 7,
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521 |
33 Augenblicke des Glücks
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3.11 avg rating — 130 ratings
score: 6,
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521 |
Code Red
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3.22 avg rating — 50 ratings
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521 |
Witchline
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3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 6,
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1 person voted
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521 |
Paperback Writer
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4.02 avg rating — 140 ratings
score: 6,
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525 |
The Complete Peanuts, 1950-1952 (The Complete Peanuts, #1)
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4.41 avg rating — 8,869 ratings
score: 5,
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1 person voted
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525 |
Lord Johnnie
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3.86 avg rating — 56 ratings
score: 5,
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1 person voted
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525 |
Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army and Other Diabolical Insects
by
Amy Stewart (Goodreads Author)
3.76 avg rating — 5,214 ratings
score: 5,
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1 person voted
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528 |
Die Zimtläden
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3.98 avg rating — 13,615 ratings
score: 4,
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1 person voted
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528 |
Touch in Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice
by
Edward W.L. Smith (Editor)
3.78 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 4,
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1 person voted
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528 |
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
by
Tom Franklin (Goodreads Author)
3.83 avg rating — 46,049 ratings
score: 4,
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1 person voted
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528 |
Dawn's Early Light (Williamsburg #1)
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4.26 avg rating — 1,653 ratings
score: 4,
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532 |
The Rector's Daughter
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3.74 avg rating — 856 ratings
score: 3,
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1 person voted
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532 |
Masters of Illusions: A Novel of the Connecticut Circus Fire
by
Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Goodreads Author)
3.52 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 3,
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532 |
Lowcountry Boil (A Liz Talbot Mystery, #1)
by
Susan M. Boyer (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 7,985 ratings
score: 3,
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1 person voted
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532 |
Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War
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4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 3,
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1 person voted
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536 |
Das Majorat
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3.30 avg rating — 199 ratings
score: 2,
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1 person voted
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536 |
The Magic Castle: A Mother's Harrowing True Story of Her Adoptive Son's Multiple Personalities--and the Triumph of Healing
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4.08 avg rating — 204 ratings
score: 2,
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536 |
Sahara Road
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3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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536 |
The Lost Lilacs of Latimer House
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3.79 avg rating — 14 ratings
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540 |
Huber spannt aus und andere Geschichten aus der Business Class (Business Class, #4)
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3.54 avg rating — 151 ratings
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540 |
Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa
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3.64 avg rating — 1,148 ratings
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540 |
Lady and the Tramp
by
Teddy Slater (Adapted by)
4.39 avg rating — 32,757 ratings
score: 1,
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540 |
The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge: In Our Own Words
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4.01 avg rating — 94 ratings
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543 books ·
28 voters ·
list created July 7th, 2010
by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (votes) .
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large)
546 books
365 friends
365 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Derya
907 books
80 friends
80 friends
Phillip
5738 books
139 friends
139 friends
Thom
6022 books
294 friends
294 friends
Bettie
15670 books
19 friends
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Mir
15004 books
447 friends
447 friends
Sooma
6 books
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Comments Showing 1-27 of 27 (27 new)
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message 1:
by
Thom
(new)
Jul 08, 2010 07:49AM

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Forester, perhaps.
Wagner? Muller? Ferber?
(Just found Ferber... Farber=Dyer in german)
Wagner? Muller? Ferber?
(Just found Ferber... Farber=Dyer in german)

Wagner => wagonner (a wagon driver). Same in German for a wagon, or rather, cart wheel maker, btw.
Müller = German for miller.
Forster = forester (forest keeper); again, virtually the same in German (Förster).
And, yes, Ferber (or actually, Färber) = German for dyer.
Anyone for French names? (Boulanger? Patissier? Boucher?)
Thanks T.-A. You learn something new every day!
Färber: can't do the umlaut thing on my keyboard... or accents...
Wiki failed me on these!
Färber: can't do the umlaut thing on my keyboard... or accents...
Wiki failed me on these!


And what is "Atwood"?
Susanna wrote: "It's not bad on a Mac, but I never have figured out how to do it on a PC keyboard.
I know there is a way, but I cant remember the stupid code numbers...
Themis-Athena wrote: "Yeah, I know -- that used to drive me nuts when I was living in the States! I hated always having to open a Word doc, insert the umlaut as a special symbol and then copy it ..."
...so I've got the ones I use most on my Google side bar, so I just have to copy and paste. No umlaut in Italian, however!
I know there is a way, but I cant remember the stupid code numbers...
Themis-Athena wrote: "Yeah, I know -- that used to drive me nuts when I was living in the States! I hated always having to open a Word doc, insert the umlaut as a special symbol and then copy it ..."
...so I've got the ones I use most on my Google side bar, so I just have to copy and paste. No umlaut in Italian, however!

Well, it's kinda grim, but "assassin" is a profession in the story-within-the-story. They are higherlings, and there are several of them, the blind assassins. And, of course, there are many books about professional assassins, more's the pity. Martin Sheen plays a professional assassin in Apocalypse Now, a film I wish was a book so I could make GR questions about it.

And what is "Atwood"?"
Yes, I'm wondering about that as well!

And what is "Atwood"?"
Yes, I'm wondering about that as well!"
One of my grad school classmates was one Alfred KLEINERKREUTZMAN......What's that about ?

Yes, he said his grandfather would tell the story of how the name came to be, but if Al ever told ME the story, I forgot it. I'm guessing it was the person who was "kleiner", not the cross.



'Bakker' is Dutch for baker, by the way. 'Boer' is Dutch for farmer and 'Brouwer' is Dutch for brewer. 'Molenaar' is miller, 'Meester' is (school) master and 'Visser' is fisherman.

'Craemer' is the old Dutch form of 'Kramer' - Peddler/Pedlar in English
'Coster' is the old Dutch form of 'Koster' - Sacristan in English
'Volder' is Dutch for Fuller
'Olyslaegers' is Dutch for a person who crushes plant seeds to get the oil (I don't know the English translation for this)

Olyslaegers (Olieslager) = oil-crusher/oil-presser :-)
Coster/Koster is also Sexton. She isn't in the list yet, and I don't have any of her work, otherwise I would have added something by Anne Sexton.

The Dutch surname 'Verver'/'Verwer' also means 'dyer'.

Thanks for the translation - didn't realize it was quite that simple :-)
"Coster/Koster is also Sexton. She isn't in the list yet, and I don't have any of her work, otherwise I would have added something by Anne Sexton."
You can add books that are not on your shelves to a list. Just go to "Add Books To This List" and click on Search where it says "Add books from: My Books or a Search". Then you can look up a title, an ISBN or an author and add books from the results.

Completely forgot about Felix Timmermans.... I've added an omnibus with his work. Thanks Koenraad.
Added another one too, by the way: Snijders (son of 'Snijder') = cutter

I know I can ;-) but I rarely do. Except for Listopia's used for the seasonal challenges of the Netherlands & Flanders group (in which only titles of books translated into Dutch are mentioned), because if I stuck to the titles on my own shelves for these, I wouldn't have a Listopia to refer to :-)
Anyone can add books to this list.
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