FoshizniK!

It’s odd, my last name. I know – or at least know of – every single person with my last name.

Namely, me, my brother, my dad and step-mum, my uncle (dad’s brother) and aunt; the dad’s cousins (x2? one may be married now) and one of the cousin’s two kids, who live near Aberystwyth.

That’s it.

There’s also single-figure numbers of a branch of the family – related a fair few generations ago – who spell it Chillistone rather than Chilestone. Rootsweb has this:

Subject: Re: [OEL] Population trends

Let me give you a current worked example.

My name is David Chillistone. Before about 1840 it was spelt Chilestone,
but "my" branch of that family name ended up with the spelling "Chillistone"
through a clerical error (all were illiterate Ag Labs, so had no idea how to
spell the surname anyway). There are a few people of the Chilestone
spelling around, but not many. There's single figure numbers of
Chillistones. Here's why. (more...)