G'morning Jame,   
      
   And thanks for the reply.  The origins of my Surname were made less certain   
   t'other day by the surfacing of a French picture of a sign that said   
   "Maxstadt"  -  something I must have a detailed look at.   
      
      
   ->    Ah, that's not as much of an issue for me;  at least, it wasn't until   
   I   
   -> found out about the family name "Klae".   I knew about the name   
   variation, on   
   -> my fathers side, of "Claye";  by tradition, we (my side of the Clay   
   family here   
   -> in the States) trace our lineage back to a "John Claye" of Derby, by way   
   of a   
   -> John Thomas Clay who come over to the "Virgina Colony" in the early   
   1600's.    
   -> The family has spread out all of the place here since then...   
   ->    
   ->    I didn't know but vaguely thought that the family name might have   
   derived   
   -> from someone who worked with clay or who was from some area known for   
   the   
   -> mineral.  But then I ran across someone here with the family name of   
   "Klae",   
   -> which certainly sounds the same and appears to come from mainland   
   Europe...    
   -> Which makes me wonder about just how long the "Claye's" had been around,   
   and   
   -> about Normans...   
      
   Mmmm ... what about "Cleay" and "Cleagh" ?    
      
   Might be worthwhile having a google search for homonyms in and around Derby   
   and see what turns up ?   
      
   Best of luck with teasing it out further !   
      
   Miles.   
      
      
      
      
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