Thanx. I know the why. Parish derives from Parisii (French for sure,English maybe). When the Romans came along the Franks ( Merovingians- yeah just like in the Da Vinci Code) wanted no part of them and added the "h" and dropped the "i" to avoid confusion and persecution. Later when Rome was trying to convert everyone to Christianity lots of Parish's added the other "R" to avoid being linked to the church.(The only other descrepancy is orphans left to the church were given the surname Parish.) My line of Parish is only with one "R". My grandfather traced back to the early 1600's...all Parish's...all with one "R". My line doesn't go through Ellis island or the colonies. My line comes from France...via England...via Ireland...via Nova Scotia...via the Fox River...to here. Now I just have to prove it. If I'm right and can prove it, the history books may have to be changed.