France Naming Customs

Online Tools

 * French Surnames and French Given Names
 * Sometimes, deciphering a surname or given name in an old handwritten document is not as easy as one might suppose. This could be due to the widespread use of abbreviations or to the difficulty in reading the handwriting. Use these lists of surname and given names to assist you in interpreting the names mentioned in the documents.


 * Abreviations in French Surnames
 * Abbreviations in French Given Names
 * Geopatronyme A omputerized surname file available in the Public Library of Information. It maps the departments of France where a particular surname is found and the frequency of that surname.
 * Słownik imion Dictionary of names, contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English.
 * Jewish Given Names

Surnames Historical Development

 * Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as John.
 * As the population increased, it became necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same name. The problem was usually solved by adding descriptive information. John became John the smith, John the son of Matthew, John the short, or John from Heidelberg.
 * At first surnames applied only to one person, not to the whole family. After a few generations, these names became hereditary and were passed on from generation to generation.
 * Surnames developed from several sources. For example:
 * Occupational (based on a person’s trade, such as Carter or Smith)
 * Geographical (based on a person’s residence, such as Drayton or Debenham)
 * Patronymic (based on a person’s father’s name, such as Jones, son of John)
 * Descriptive or nickname (such as Joy or Child)
 * The nobility and wealthy land owners were the first to begin using surnames.
 * Merchants and townspeople then adopted the custom, as did the rural population. This process took two or three centuries.

Since 1539 the law that required priests to write baptism registers also required them to write the surname next to the baptismal name. In the 1700s researchers often find a name written various ways in the same document. But by 1808, especially in civil registration, the spelling of surnames became fixed.

Jewish Naming Customs. Before 1808, the use of a family name by Jews was left to the discretion of the individual. Most Jews in France followed the custom of using only a given name and the father's name, such as Isaac, son of Abraham. Occasionally the name of the town where the person lived was used, as in Isaac of Metz.

Most Jews did not adopt hereditary family names until required to do so by law. In 1808 Napoléon made Jews take a fixed surname. They were required to register their surnames and some of these surname registers still exist. They are usually at the departmental archives.

Double surnames. In some areas of France, especially in the mountainous regions of the Alps and the Pyrénées, individuals may have taken a second (double) surname. The first part of the surname is usually the family surname. The second part of the surname may be a place, a house name, or a nickname. Examples of double surnames are:


 * Lavit-Jeantoy
 * Dupraz-Canard
 * Raffin-Varende

Alias names. A few people, most often soldiers or sailors, took a second surname preceded by "so-called" [dit]. Sometimes the individual adopted the dit name as the family name, and dropped the original surname. For example, the surname HURNON dit LAJOIE may be listed in these ways:


 * HURNON
 * HURNON dit LAJOIE
 * HURNON-LAJOIE
 * LAJOIE

Nobility names. Noble families often have several surnames, including one referring to the fief; for example, Chandon de Briailles, de Bourbon de Vendôme, or Dubois d'Ernemont.

Official Name Changes. Starting in 1474 anyone who wished to change his name was required to get permission from the King. Official name changes are indexed in:

Jérôme, archiviste. Dictionnaire des changements de noms de 1803 à 1956 (Dictionary of changed names from 1803 to 1956). Paris, France: Librairie Française, 1974. (Family History Library book 1974; not on microfilm.)

Given Names
Children were usually given two, three, four, or more given names. Some of these may be the names of parents or other relatives. Baptism names may be different from the names given in civil registration. They may not have been used later in the child's life.

Many given names have variants and dialectical forms. Dominique may also be found as Demange. Isabelle may be called Babet. An example of a book about name meanings, variants, and places of origin is:

Given Names in Foreign Languages
Because genealogical records were kept in various languages, you may find your ancestor's name in different languages at different times.

As regions fell under the rule of different countries, the language used in records could change. For example, your great-grandfather's name could be in Latin on his birth record, in French on his marriage record, and in German on his death record. Some given names are often very different when translated into different languages, as shown by the following table.

The following online source contains given names translated into 23 different European languages, including English:


 * Janowowa, Wanda, et al. Słownik imion (Dictionary of names). Wrocław, Germany: Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, 1975. (FHL book Ref 940 D4si; film 1181578 item 2; fiche 6,000,839.) Names are listed alphabetically by the Polish name, as the author is Polish. An index at the back gives the Polish form of each name. Use that name to find the 23 translations in the main list.

For Further Reading
Morlet, Marie-Thérèse. Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de famille (Etymological dictionary of surnames). Paris, France: Perrin, 1991. (FHL book 944 D46m; not on microfilm.)