Whence the Name "KUMIS" ?

[NW Mailing List]

A quick Internet search turned up 4 people with a surname of Kumis.  Not 
exactly common, but it is used. So I wouldn't discard that as a possible 
source.

You could check the Census records for the relevant time period to see 
if there were any Kumis family members living in the area.  It was not 
unusual to name places on the railroad after families who lived nearby.

Ed


On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 12:40 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:


> Has anyone figured out how the name "Kumis" came to be  used as a 

> station name on the VGN?  MapQuest and Google Earth do not 

> recognize "Kumis" as a geographical location.

>

>

> The word "kumis" is apparently a Turkic or Mongol word referring to  a 

> fermented product made from mare's milk  in the Central Asian Steppes, 

> see:

>

>

> http://thekefir.com/kumis/

>

>

> I have not been able to nail down the root etymology of the word, as I 

> have no familiarity with any Turkic or Altaic languages.

>

>

> I have never heard "kumis" used as a family name and have not run 

> across the word  in any of the non-railroad historical materials 

> dealing with Roanoke or Montgomery Counties.  It would be interesting 

> to check the 1898 USGS Topo maps and see if there was any use of that 

> word as a word referencing places just prior to  the construction of 

> the Virginian Railway.  However, the USGS Topos for that period do not 

> appear to have been digitized yet.

>

>

> So, how did "Kumis" get to Roanoke County, Virginia...?

>

>

> Sorry to play the part of the philologist... it's just ingrained.

>

>

> -- abram burnett, transplanted virginian domiciling in pennsyl-slavia

>  

>

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