Difficulty with names, the Acadian Expulsion edition - seeking sources and background info

Question

Around the time of Acadian expulsion from Canada, the lack of records is further complicated by dit names, extremely popular saints' names, and in some cases, descendents whose surnames differ from the parents listed on existing records. I am a little new to this, and not familiar with some of the naming conventions, but it is so confusing. Is it from children being separated from parents and taken into other families? I have been plugging in what I can find, and taking (well, leaving) notes in the comment spaces to indicate where I am in researching (or where I need to study). I had to prune really hard while adding my tree because I wanted to add or see source material before connecting (not GEDcom, so it was a little easier to control) and have been resisting several leads to fill in because I'm finding that the names are not necessarily indicative of parents.

TL/DR: My question is more about Old French naming conventions in New France, incomplete records, and families possibly separated during the Grand Dérangement. French sources are fine - I need to practice. The linked profile is an example of what I mean, but not the only one.

 

edit: Oh!!! This helps. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Familles_Acadiennes

Answer 1

Hi Laurie, the WikiTree link you posted if for the Acadian Project. It uses a standardized spelling of names which are used by Stephen A White in his DGFA (Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes). It isn't meant to be an accurate spelling of the surname of a particular family--there isn't one. The truth is, spelling was very fluid until recent times. The people themselves were not literate so they didn't write their names nor see them in print. Church officials and census takers were the ones who attempted to write their names and that varied from one person to the next. The names for Francoise La Croix ditte Hubert are French but not Acadian names; neither is Zerinque.

The French and Germans in Louisiana, in the 1700s, settled mostly around New Orleans, the Acadians further away along the bayous. There wasn't much written communication among the groups. Transcibers of SW Louisiana and Lafourche/Terrebonne parishes, notably Rev. Donald J. Hebert, have standardized name spellings to some extent and sometime after 1800, an "X" began to be added to names ending in "eau" or with that sound. For example, the Girouards from Acadie used that spelling in SW Louisiana, but along the Mississippi River, members of that same clan had their name spelled "Giroir" or "Giroire" and that spelling took hold in the Diocese of Baton Rouge Church Records.

Census takers began giving French, Acadian and Spanish women their husband's surnames which these women never did. German and Swiss names were given a French or Spanish spelling in the records.

The Louisiana project tries to make a rational decision on the surname spelling based on records and common sense, or what the father used, but it's not unusual to see a family name change abruptly within one generation and different WikiTree genealogists add their own ideas. When WikiTree changed its search algorithm a few months ago to include alternate name spellings, the issue became less confusing, so now, we try to add the most common variant spellings of the name. This should help with avoiding duplicates but it isn't perfect. I still unintentionally create duplicates periodically.

The name Hubert is interesting also. It could have been Huber in Europe, but in Louisiana, the French or Spanish official would have spelled it Oubre or Ouvre or Ouber of Ouver.

In short, it's not an exact science by a long shot. Thanks for asking and allowing me to confuse the issue beyond repair! lol

Comments

Lol! Thanks, Jacqueline. You've been really helpful. it's a lot to untangle!

Answer 2

Laurie, 

Danielle Liard has written a pretty good explanation of naming conventions in New France which you can find on the Quebecois Project page.  It might help.

All of what Jacqueline said about illiteracy, priests and census takers each using their own best guess at how to spell still applies.

Also add in the factor that a person with a dit name might use the first half alone, the second half alone, or both together and that the individual children might use either half or adopt their own completely different dit name and use either half alone and you have plenty of reasons for abrupt changes in surnames.

Comments

Thank you, Mary. It was giving me such a headache - I thought there was a pattern to it that I was missing.

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Hi Mary, Thank you for the link to the really helpful information written by Danielle Liard for the Quebecois Project page. I learned quite a bit and have bookmarked the page so I can find it again.