So my last name is extremely rare because there are few males to pass on the last name.

Entire branches have been extinguished, and there was a period where three successive generations had a single male descendant.

Cops, preachers and, more recently, therapists abound. I have one grandfather who was a cop (and an icky one at that), a sister who's a 911 operator, her two sons are cops and one's a preacher in addition (hey, it's Mississippi). Three great uncles are preachers. My other sister's a massage therapist and I'm a therapist. Two cousins are married to preachers. Going way back, there are a couple of strange "law enforcers", including one way the hell back in the 1700s in New England who was called a "Captain", and whose job appeared to be to keep the Indians in line.

I've got some hard opinions about both cops and preachers, though preachers fascinate me for their stage talent, but it is a pattern for sure.

Please don't remind me of the things that ties to.

Simpsons reference.

Ned doesn't seem to spend much time at the Leftorium nowadays. Maybe it's the new wife.

I come from a long line of bachelors...

No, hang on, that line's not as funny as it was 50 years ago.

from alcohol use.

Lot of barroom brawlers, both male and female. So I became a bartender for a while, that way you're covered, 'til my liver started hurting.

Stubborn people. Take a stand and no matter how rediculous refuse to give it up.

Easily amused folks, witty but only half.

And a lot of barren women, I'm one of them too. No baby carriage, just a playpen.

PLUS most of my ancestors loved weddings, was told the IRS has had to keep a RolDex on most of us. "Gotta find the lid that fits your pot."

Mostly on my Mom's side of the family. A lot of them were known for starting churches, as far as I can figure out because they were thrown out of the churches they had been members of. One preacher started four or five churches in the same small county in Alabama. Another is noted for not only starting churches, but building them, too.

On my Dad's side many of my ancestors were voracious readers no matter how little formal schooling they had. Some were such dedicated readers it was noted in their obituaries or in the little biographies my grandmother wrote on the family members she could gather enough information for. They also believed in educating the women of the family when possible - my great great grandfather left money for both his granddaughters to go to college and they both graduated from college.

Fortunately the trait of reading is the one I inherited!

The end of the line for my maternal grandparents.
My uncle and his wife never had kids, my aunt never married
or had any serious boyfriends, then my sister is asexual,
and I never had any luck with women, and was always ambivalent
about the thought of having kids anyway because of the way the world is.
My parents will never have grand kids.

in my father's family, going back several generations.

All of us.

something good.

But here it is...

mental illness...depression and anxiety (dad's side)

alcoholism (both sides)

Well, OK, I did think of something not so bad...most of the ancestors on my mom's side were relatively long-lived. Except for her mom, who died at 33, but that was the alcohol.

to punch livestock in the face--pigs excepted, for no known reason.

I found evidence going back to the 1450's of one of my ancestors getting exiled to an island to live out the rest of his days because he openly renounced Christianity. I follow in that dude's footsteps. When I openly admitted I was both a Democrat and an atheist the gloves came off and I was ostracized and ridiculed to the point where I may as well just say I was kicked out of the family. Conversion by force does not work on me.

Almost all of the men in my family for the past 400 years were named James, Robert or William.

uncle named Manuel.

There's been at least one in every generation - my granddad, me and my great-niece.

Also, I'm in the third generation of four with predominantly male children. For the period of 1919 to 2005 we've had 24 boys to 11 girls. That has to be way skewed on the distribution scale.

...politicians and attorneys. And heart disease. I think there's a pattern.

But, yeah...from the moment they stepped on American soil, to the present...politics and law. It looks like that passion may die with me, however. My brother and sister have very little interest in either and my son doesn't give much of a damn. My one cousin started going to law school, but dropped out to take over the radio stations his father owned. My mother's side is pretty much gone except for a couple of step and half kids. Nobody is sure what my nephew is interested in, but my brother is spending a fortune to get him through Marquette U.

--my cousin said "You know that's been passed down on our side! LOL

Well, most of them! LOL

Dad's side can generally make/fix ANYTHING

Strange. Given my high regard for etiquette and propriety.

I first exhibited that trait as soon as I knew how to read.

Lotsa surprise babies over the centuries...