French Names - Challenges

              Charles R. Maduell, Jr.

FRENCH NAME PRACTICES IN THE 17th & 18th Centuries

     In all the cultures of western Europe, the practice of surname useage is 
nowhere as complex as it is in France.   This is probably because France is really 
the crossroads of Europe, the cultures of Latin based Itality, Teutonic based 
German, Celtic based Breton, mixed with Basque, Norman and Spanish, all contributing 
to the French language.


     Surnames in France were not stabilized so that the name of the father became 
the family name.   Although this practice was more or less prevailing, it did not 
have legal enforcement, and a son or daughter was free to adapt the surname of 
the father or not, as wished.


     This practice brought with it the flagrant use of the preposition "de" and the 
article "le" and even the cOmbination of preposition and article in the forms "de la" 
and XXXXXXX "des"   Fortunately, there is some semblance of order in the use of 
these prefixes before the more complex names.


     The preposition "de" and its modofied [modified] form "du" were orginally used by the 
nobility to denote the possession of an estate, the name of the state following the 
preposition.   We find, that, as an example, three brothers whose faster [father] was named 
Lemoine were prominent in La.   They were the sieurs de Bienville, 
d'Iberville, and de Chateaugue.   We even find that the surname Lemoine was not 
used, preference being for the estate name, even to the extent of dropping the 
preposition.

     We find this practice ven [even] among those who had little or no claim to a title. 
Thus, the four Chauvin brothers, three of whom establsihed estates along the river 
above New Orleans, adopted the estate names de Lery, afterward, Delery; de la 
Freniere, afterward Lafreniere; and de Beaulieu, afterward Beaulieu.   Of the 
fourth brother little is known, but the name Chauvin was well established in La., 
even in the early period.


     In the census tables, which form the major part of this thesis, names beginning 
with the preposition "de" or "du" are often found in places where the preposition 
has been dropped, hence, we should look in several places for any specific surnames 
which may or may not have been an estate name.   This [thus], in the early census we might 
find M. Delery under Cahusin, under De Lery, or under Lery.


     Of officials of La.sometimes used the preposition and sometimes not, so 
the reader looking for a specific name may find it in either place, or in both plaeces.

Unfortunately, the use of the preposition does not establish that the name following 
was an estate.   In some cases, the preposition takes its rightul definition, 
meaning "of" or "from" and the name following is a place, not necessarily an estate. 
Such names as Dupong (by the bridge) Duval (from the valley), De Belisle (from 
the pretty island) would be of this form.   It is highly possible that bearers of 
such names had other family names as well, although many may be lost in history.


     The article "la" or "le" before names is much more common among those Frenchmen 
who were from the north, Normandy or Picardy.   The article presupposes that at one 
time or another the bearer's ancestors were serfs or villagers with more or less 
freedom but belonging to or assigned to an individual bearing the name following. 
Names such as Lachapelle obviously signify that the ancestor was from Chapelle, while 
a name such as Lavigne signified that the ancestor worked for or belonged to M. Vigne.


     It has been the practice in American to bring together the preposition or the 
article with the remainder of the name thus, a name which may have once been 
separated, as La Place in now Laplace and Du Val is not [now?] Duval.

     Carrying the practice of surnames as applying to Frenchmen even further is the 
sue [issue?] of combined preposition and article.   We then notice such names as de la Chaise, 
or Deschamps. These have the same significance as above, but we might find the