Haldanes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Units measuring genetic distance by the average number of crossovers between two loci ; members of the Scottish Haldane family, such as the statesman Richard Haldane and the geneticist J.B.S. Haldane
2. Measures of recombination distance along a chromosome, named after the geneticist J.B.S. Haldane ; the people bearing the surname of the Scottish Haldane family, including Richard Haldane
3. Map distance units expressing expected crossovers between genetic markers ; individuals from the Scottish family of that surname, among them the politician Richard Haldane and scientist J.B.S. Haldane

Etymology: "Haldanes" is simply the plural of "Haldane," a Scottish surname. The surname comes from Old Norse "Halfdanr," a personal name built from two elements: "halfr," meaning "half," and "Danr," meaning "Dane." The name therefore literally meant something like "half-Dane," and it was carried into Scotland by Norse speakers whose naming habits left a lasting mark on the country's families. Plural forms of surnames like this one are used to refer to a family as a whole, so "the Haldanes" means the people who share that name. Scottish families of Norse descent often carry names that preserve older personal names in this way, and "Haldane" is a clear example of a name that has kept its original Old Norse structure into the present day.