Hi Renard:

You make a very good point about the potential of my family's possible Wiltshire roots being diluted over the generations. Indeed, I've corresponded with an Axford family from Arbroath and Angus, and they claim to be descended from an English soldier from Wiltshire. Naturally, I wonder if they may be J2, but I don't believe they've been tested. Also, I've thought before about the possibility of an extramarital event as an explanation for our J2 - such an event may also have occurred for my family in Ontario, Canada (from where my family emigrated), a region with a lot of Scot and Ulster Scot families - frontier families faced such high mortality rates, adoption/foster arrangements were common. With regard to the Arab connection, I recognize that's a real possibility too, although I think a Sarmatian Roman Legion connection is more likely, based on my family's DNA Fingerprint World Population Matches. The Sarmatians came from between the Black and Caspian Seas (although they also settled the Balkans, Anatolia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean), and there are very high concentrations of J2 in many parts of that region. The area around Hadrian's Wall and the Lowlands also had a substantial contingent of Sarmatian Romans, as I understand. However, the Axford surname probably has a Norman connection, and we know that contrary to common assumption, the Normans were not of just Danish Viking descent - there were also a lot of Flemish, Briton and Gallo-Roman (a source of J2) "Normans," as part of King William's alliance. Also, I understand there were Jewish Norman officials who well may have been J or J2.

With regard to my family's apparent Clan association (genetically, anyway), we have matches with lineages(branches/Septs) from the MacFarlane, Thomson, and MacKay/Kay Clans. These clans settled around Roxburghshire (where we have genetic matches), and we know the MacKays originally came from Sutherland, an area with a lot of Clans of Norse ancestry, including Swedish Viking, as I understand. The MacKays more specifically came from the Loch Laxford area, research tells me. I have also found references of a location name of Axfirth associated with the North Sea area (Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, Northern Scotland) and Iceland. My understanding is that the Norse and Scottish word firth means fjord or ford. I think it is interesting that the pronunciation of Axfirth is more similar to Axford ("Axferd") than is "Ax-Ford," but the "ferd" pronunciation seems to be true for all surnames with the suffix ford.

I realize that my line of thinking about alternative place name sources of my family's Axford surname involves considerable conjecture, but the coincidences are interesting, nevertheless. Also, there are so many places in the British Isles that sound similar to Axford: Axford, Wiltshire; Axford, Hampshire; Ayshford of Cornwall; Ashford, North Devon; Ashford, South Hams; Exford, Somerset; Eckford, Scotland; Loch Laxford, Scotland; Ashford County, Ireland; Wexford County, Ireland; Wexford, England; Paxford, Gloucestershire; Oxford, England; Oxford Island, Ireland; and Ashford, Surrey (once called Exeford). Also, I understand that "Axeford" is a dialectical form of "Exeford" (The Early History of Oxford; Oxford Historical Society, 1885); and Exford derives from Eckford. It seems very possible then that Eckford,in the Border Region, may be a source for our name, as is the surname Aikfurd (from 17th Century Edinburgh; the name has apparently died out) thought to derive from Eckford. With spellings having been so unsystematic and inconsistent at one time, whose to say my family's Axford surname wasn't once spelled some other way? Indeed, even with U.S. historical documents, I've found my family's surname misspelled as Oxford and Acksford. Consider also the number of surnames sounding similar to Axford: Axeford, Aksford, Aikford, Axfird, Auxford, Oaksford, Oxford, Exford, Eckford, Ecksford, Ekford, Eakford, Ekkeford, Ekkford, Ekford, Efford, Efird, Ashford, Ayshford, Asford, Afford, Ascford, Aescford, Heckford, Hawksford, and Hawkford. These are all place surnames corresponding to at least several locations; they are also surnames known to have been easily interchanged; or as surnames having changed in pronunciation due to changes in dialect. So, when Gaelic and Nordic Scots moved into the Scot speaking (which I understand was similar to Old English)Lowlands, is it far fetched that the pronunciations and spellings of their names were perhaps changed, especially as the Borders became more Anglecized? And for the families that had long been there, we know their names evolved in pronunciation and spelling as well.

Thanks for indulging me. I realize that as someone who is actually British, you know much, much more about your nation's history than do I, so I hope I didn't misrepresent anything. Also, so many of us Americans so often rely on website heraldry information when initially identifying ancestry (family history sadly gets lost), as often genealogical information just isn't available. I know these sites identify the Axford surname as being, by conjecture, associated with Axford, Wiltshire. Nevertheless, I have to wonder. There are Axford families all over the British Isles, including Northern England, Scotland and parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Wiltshire Axfords must have been awfully prolific and mobile to populate all these regions, but perhaps that is the case.

I greatly appreciate your well informed insights. If you come across any additional information, I'd appreciate you sharing it. Take care.