The Migration of French Family Names

[Errigal]

I found an interesting website which displays on a map births registered by family name in France over a one hundred year period. The site itself is very useful, and what struck me was the increase in migration within France over that time. Almost every family name I chose showed a pattern of dispersal over the hundred years. Take for example the name "Castres":










This relatively rapid mixing of people from different parts of France must make racial classification more difficult each year. I would guess that this pattern of internal migration is repeated in other European countries.

http://www.genealogie.com/nom-de-famille-1/

[Youenn]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

This relatively rapid mixing of people from different parts of France must make racial classification more difficult each year. I would guess that this pattern of internal migration is repeated in other European countries.

You can see my post.
Unfortunately, I suppose there are similarities with the situation of the Welsh and the Cornish.

Another exemple (Breton name) :

[Errigal]

I first found this site when I wanted to find out where in France most of the family names of Quebec originally came from. the majority of typically quebecois names came from the coastal area from the Gironde to Pas-de-Calais. It was the pattern of migration I then noticed. This type of migration seems to have taken place in Ireland too. When visting relatives in the Northwest of Ireland, I have noticed more accents from the south even after only a few years.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by A Few Acres of Snow

I first found this site when I wanted to find out where in France most of the family names of Quebec originally came from. the majority of typically quebecois names came from the coastal area from the Gironde to Pas-de-Calais. It was the pattern of migration I then noticed. This type of migration seems to have taken place in Ireland too. When visting relatives in the Northwest of Ireland, I have noticed more accents from the south even after only a few years.

Exactly, they were mainly Normans, Bretons and Charentais.

Hi!! sorry for my english but....... i am from Quebec, Canada .....my name is a french name but i discover that my ancestors come from Normandie, france......and when my ancestors arrived to Quebec ....our name was Hüs.......i think its a swedish name....but with the french culture in quebec....the name Hüs changed to a french name......i think the majority of Quebec people are Bretons or normans......i have blonde hair and blue eyes....can you tell me more about my sub races or ..phenotype or..........my Celtic or Germanic blood ?? quebeckers blood and ancestors ?thank you!

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by lakamanafalavin

Hi!! sorry for my english but....... i am from Quebec, Canada .....my name is a french name but i discover that my ancestors come from Normandie, france......and when my ancestors arrived to Quebec ....our name was Hüs.......i think its a swedish name....but with the french culture in quebec....the name Hüs changed to a french name......i think the majority of Quebec people are Bretons or normans......i have blonde hair and blue eyes....can you tell me more about my sub races or ..phenotype or..........my Celtic or Germanic blood ?? quebeckers blood and ancestors ?thank you!

Hello lakamanafalavin!

I guess your ancestors already had a somewhat of a French touch even before they reached Nouvelle France in the VXIIth century.

Well, no one could tell you for sure about your subrace or phenotype only from these few informations. If you really want to know, post some of your photos here.

As for your Germanic or Celtic blood, I understand what you mean, although those are notions that refer to different things.

Here's what is said about your family name. (As a Québécois you are certainly reading French. )

Hus Assez courant dans l'Ille-et-Vilaine, la Manche et le Nord, c'est un nom de personne d'origine germanique, Huso (hus = maison).

You probably knew that.

Take a look at this, you might be interested:
http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/...7164&periode=1

And this:

Famille Hus - Wikipédia


The name itself might be Germanic, however, IMO there's a nuance here. One should be careful. That doesn't mean every people with a surname of Germanic origin are of Germanic origin themselves or else a lot of Frenchmen with such a name would be Germanics. In your case, it could very well be the case though.

Basicaly someone who doesn't speak a Germanic language can't be Germanic to me, and the few Nordmen who adopted the culture of the locals (of what later became Normandie) were not Germanic anymore neither by language nor by culture at the time of the colonization of Québec.

(J'espère ne pas donner l'impression d'être un "français chiant". )

[Lutiferre]

Originally Posted by lakamanafalavin

Hi!! sorry for my english but....... i am from Quebec, Canada .....my name is a french name but i discover that my ancestors come from Normandie, france......and when my ancestors arrived to Quebec ....our name was Hüs.......i think its a swedish name....but with the french culture in quebec....the name Hüs changed to a french name......i think the majority of Quebec people are Bretons or normans......i have blonde hair and blue eyes....can you tell me more about my sub races or ..phenotype or..........my Celtic or Germanic blood ?? quebeckers blood and ancestors ?thank you!

Blond hair and blue eyes are hardly qualifiers to be Germanic or Celtic. Hair color doesnt have much to do with that, to be honest. And, who says those Germanic or Celtic areas of France arent French, just because they are historically Celtic or Germanic? French isnt a meta-ethnicity, and there is no reason to think the French ethnicity cannot contain several meta-ethnic components. At least thats my opinion.