HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE-L Archives

From: "Martin" <>
Subject: [HWE] French Surnames
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:35:39 -0700

Hi

"The Huguenots had so few surnames..." I find this very strange as in
France all surnames were rendered official in the 16th Century by the
Ordinance of Villers-Cotteret[1539], which made the keeping of parish
registers obligatory - a very early date compared with other countries!

"Officials," in what is now Belgium, would almost certainly have been
French speaking and therefore should have had little problem with French
surnames. It should also be taken into consideration that French was a
much more important language in those days - especially in the Low
Countries - than it is now. Moreover, idiosyncrasies apart, there would
have been very little reason to choose a "silly" name as the individuals
concerned could easily have been identified from their place of origin.
Thus, my own ancestor, Jean BLIGNAUT, seems to have been referred to ,
at least once, as "Le jeun monsieur de Monthelon", not proof of noble
birth, however, but rather: "The young gentleman from Monthelon" - the
name of the tiny hamlet from which he fled at the time of the
Revocation.

Best Wishes
Martin Blignaut



--
Martin


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• [HWE] French Surnames by "Martin" <>