I must admit I was curious too. I'm from Tennessee, Blue Ridge Mountain territory. My mom and I thought that maybe it was an old spelling of you. There are many areas of the mountains that hold onto the 'old way' of doing things. For example, the name Rutherford. I think most people would pronounce it Ruth-e-ford. My mom on the other hand grew up with it being pronounced Rull-er ford. Don't ask me where the L sound comes from, she doesn't know either, it's just the way it was.
I think curiosity is a good thing. I have found that most people that want to know something aren't being insulting by asking, they just simply want to know for knowledge sake.
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