What's in a Canadian Name?: The Origins and Meanings of Canadian Surnames

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

His famous sense of humor and off-the-wall style saves Casselman’s
work from the depth of dullness, where it would surely remain if judged
on content alone.

Casselman enjoys wallowing around in the muck of social history where
bits of names can be dug up, subjected to an autopsy, and pulled through
time to make up a modern surname. The Greeks, Vikings, Romans, Normans
... any past culture could have had a hand in the name you claim today.

After a mind-numbing introduction to the art of dissecting names, made
almost bearable by lots of semi-humorous examples, the book becomes an
alphabetical catalogue of the surnames of well-known Canadians, dead or
alive. If you yearn to know the meaning of Trudeau, Gould, Atwood,
Hurtig, or any of dozens of other famous Canadian names, this is your
source of choice.

Casselman is the author of several previous works on Canadian words and
sayings. The success of these is such that “Casselman” has become a
synonym for “word nut.” You wouldn’t want anyone else telling you
what your name means.