Tim Tingle: Hello. My name is Tim Tingle. The name Tingle is a Scot-Irish name, and it's my grandfather's name. My grandmother was full-blood Choctaw, and her maiden name was Gude, and he was a Scot-Irishman who would come to Oklahoma from Georgia. In Macon County, Georgia, there are more Tingles than in any county in the United States, but I've also run across Tingles in Anchorage, Alaska, in different parts of Virginia, North/South Carolina. It seems to be more popular in the South than it is any other section of the country.

When I toured Germany with Department of Defense Schools back in the mid-'90s, I kept seeing the name Tingleman on shop windows. When I asked about it, I was told that Tingleman is not only a common last name, but it literally means shopkeeper in German. It was also explained to me that when the Germanic tribes invaded the British Isles, bringing with them their language that eventually became the English language, that Tingle became part of that journey. So, I'm part Choctaw. The last name Tingle comes from Macon County, Georgia, which came from Ireland, which came from Scotland, which originated in Germany.