- 主题发起人 CCOYYOTEE
- 发布时间 2017-06-15
楼主风格大变。
法裔姓氏的来历。
In France, surnames were first used in about the 11th century to distinguish between people with the same given name, though it was centuries before their use was common.
So how did your ancestors get their French surnames? Most can be traced back to one of four types:
1. Patronymic/Matronymic
This is the most common type of French last name, and it’s simply based on a parent’s given name. Patronymic surnames were based on the father’s name and matronymic ones on the mother’s. It was common for people to distinguish between two people with the same first name by referencing their parents (usually the father). In general, the mother’s name was used only if the father was unknown.
This type of name was formed in a few different ways. French prefixes that mean “son of”—which attach, of course, to the start of a name—include de and fitz (from the Norman). To use the list of common French surnames above as an example, someone named Pierre whose father’s name was Robert might become known as Pierre de Robert or FitzRobert. Or a suffix may have been added to the parent’s name, such as -eau, -elin, -elot, -elle, or -elet, all of which indicated “little son of.”
Most patronymic names, though, did not take prefixes or suffixes. Robert’s son Pierre might just be known as Pierre Robert.
For many generations, these “surnames” did not pass down; each generation took their father’s given name as their surname until, eventually, governments decreed that a surname would be hereditary. That is when, for the most part, the same surname started passing down through each generation.
2. Occupational Surnames
It was also very common to distinguish individuals by referring to their jobs or trades. Some French occupational surnames include:
A descriptive surname is based on a quality that describes a person and sometimes developed from a nickname.
Geographical surnames described where a person lived or hailed from, such as:
In France, surnames were first used in about the 11th century to distinguish between people with the same given name, though it was centuries before their use was common.
So how did your ancestors get their French surnames? Most can be traced back to one of four types:
1. Patronymic/Matronymic
This is the most common type of French last name, and it’s simply based on a parent’s given name. Patronymic surnames were based on the father’s name and matronymic ones on the mother’s. It was common for people to distinguish between two people with the same first name by referencing their parents (usually the father). In general, the mother’s name was used only if the father was unknown.
This type of name was formed in a few different ways. French prefixes that mean “son of”—which attach, of course, to the start of a name—include de and fitz (from the Norman). To use the list of common French surnames above as an example, someone named Pierre whose father’s name was Robert might become known as Pierre de Robert or FitzRobert. Or a suffix may have been added to the parent’s name, such as -eau, -elin, -elot, -elle, or -elet, all of which indicated “little son of.”
Most patronymic names, though, did not take prefixes or suffixes. Robert’s son Pierre might just be known as Pierre Robert.
For many generations, these “surnames” did not pass down; each generation took their father’s given name as their surname until, eventually, governments decreed that a surname would be hereditary. That is when, for the most part, the same surname started passing down through each generation.
2. Occupational Surnames
It was also very common to distinguish individuals by referring to their jobs or trades. Some French occupational surnames include:
- Berger — shepherd
- Bisset — weaver
- Boucher — butcher
- Brodeur — embroiderer
- Caron — cartwright
- Charpentier — carpenter
- Chevrolet — goat farmer
- Couture — tailor
- Fabron — blacksmith
- Faucheux — mower
- Fournier — baker
- Gagne — farmer
- Granger — farm bailiff
- Lefebvre — craftsman (usually a blacksmith)
- Marchand — merchant
- Mercier — trader
- Mullins — miller
- Paquet — gatherer or seller of firewood
- Page — servant or page
- Pelletier — fur trader
- Segal — grower or seller of rye
A descriptive surname is based on a quality that describes a person and sometimes developed from a nickname.
- Petit — small
- Legrand — the big one
- Leblanc — the blonde one
- Brun — someone with brown hair or a brown complexion
- Donadieu or Donnadieu (“given to God”) may have been the name of a child given to a priest or monastery or because they were orphaned
Geographical surnames described where a person lived or hailed from, such as:
- Beaulieu — beautiful place
- Beaumont — beautiful hill
- Chastain — near certain chestnut trees
- Comtois — from Franche-Comte, a province in eastern France
- Deschamps — from the fields
- Dupont — by the bridge
- Desmarais — by the marsh
- Dupuis — by the well
- Linville — from Linivilla, now Ninville, France
- Marseille — many people have the name of this major French city as their surname
- Paris — from Paris
- St. Martin — from St. Martin
- Travers — near a bridge or ford
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