DPS HEADCANONS - Ancestral origins of the Poets
English: The surname Dalton is an Anglo-Saxon and Hiberno-Norman habitational name meaning “settlement in a valley”. It originates from several northern English towns with the same name.
Portuguese: Charlie’s mother’s family has roots in Portugal, although he knows very little about his maternal origins because of an unintentional estrangement between him and his grandparents [they live far away from each other and he doesn’t get to see them often]
Norwegian & Danish: Inherited through his paternal line, most likely from a woman who married into the Dalton family [inspired by Gale Hansen whose last name is a Scandinavian patronymic name meaning "son of Hans"]
Irish & English: Both of his parents have ancestral origins in Ireland and England [most likely third or fourth generation in regards to his Irish ancestry, whereas his English origins stretch all the way back to the English settlers]
Welsh: The surname Perry is a Welsh patronymic formed as a shortened, anglicized version of ap Harry (son of Harry).
French: Inherited through his mother who was first generation French-American. Mrs. Anderson spent many summers visiting her grandparents in France and would later take her sons to do the same with her own parents [who moved back to France in their old age]
Swedish, Danish & Norwegian: The surname Anderson was found widely across Scandinavian in countries like Sweden and Denmark (often spelled Andersson or Andersen)
Belgian, English & German: The surname Overstreet derives from Old English words like ofer (bank, upper) and stræt (street, road), or potentially as an altered form of the Flemish name Overstraete or German Oberstrass.
Ashkenazi Jewish: Inherited from both of his parents [inspired by Josh Charles’s Jewish ancestry]
English: Cameron has family ties in England through his mom and dad. He still has relatives living in England [mainly on his mom’s side] and visits them during the holidays.
Scottish: Both of Cameron’s parents have Scottish ancestry, although his dad’s family has stronger roots there. He’s first generation Scottish-American through Mr. Cameron [who was born in Scotland but moved to the USA with his family when he was still a baby]
English: He gets this from both his mother and father, although it’s the least acknowledged; his dad is almost purely Scottish [and it’s quite common to have origins in England if you’re from states within the New England area… which I’d assume most of the Poets are.]
Scottish: Gerard is second generation Scottish-American through his grandfather who had immigrated to the USA from Scotland. [This headcanon was inspired by James Waterston’s ancestral origins in Scotland via his father, Sam Waterston.]
German: Inherited solely through his maternal line. Gerard received his mother’s last name at birth, which is the Americanized version the German surname Pitz. [thanks to @mashenka-writes for letting me borrow the headcanon of Gerard being solely raised by his mom]
Italian: He’s second generation Italian-American through his dad. Steven’s paternal grandmother is an Italian immigrant [this headcanon was made by @mashenka-writes who based it off of Allelon Ruggiero’s Italian ancestry]
Scottish & English: The surname Meeks has origins in both Scotland and England.
French: Meeks has distant roots in France through his maternal line [his mother is of French-Canadian descent]
